Review: Marmaduke

The urge to start my review of Marmaduke with a cliche like “Bad dog!” is unbearable. It’s not like I wasn’t warned well ahead of time that the movie resembled something similar to the “gifts” my last dog used to leave for me in the backyard either.  I mean, if you saw the trailer you knew this was not going to be a good experience for anyone over the age of 10. Part of me actually wanted to see it just for the pleasure of ripping it apart for being so horrible. And horrible it is. But you know what? For the demographic it’s aimed at, the under-10 set, it works. And unlike the recent Furry Vengeance, which was nothing short of insulting (see my review of that here), Marmaduke is harmless fun.

Following the same formula as the single-panel comic strip it’s based on, Marmaduke, a Great Dane, terrorizes his owners (the Winslow family) by eating their food, destroying their house, dragging them down the street during walks, not cooperating during his bath time, farting in bed, and in general being a complete pest. The Winslows are made up of father Phil (Lee Pace), mother Debbie (Judy Greer), and kids Brian (Finley Jacobsen) and Barbara (Caroline Sunshine). There is also the baby, Sarah, and Carlos the cat (voiced by George Lopez). Oh yeah, I didn’t mention the animals speak in this version, with Owen Wilson lending his hippie drawl to Marmaduke.

The story, if one can call it that, has Phil moving the family from Kansas City to Southern California so he can take a job at an organic pet food company. His new boss Don (William H. Macy) likes to hold his meetings at the dog park and Phil is urged to bring Marmaduke along. While there Marmaduke meets a couple of new dogs he gets along with (voiced by Emma Stone, Steve Coogan, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and a gang of dogs he does not (their leader, Bosco, is voiced by Kiefer Sutherland). From there the film movies from talking dog scene to talking dog scene with a few really terrible dance numbers. That’s right — the dogs dance! Oh, your kids are going to love this movie.

Let’s focus on this dancing dog bit for a moment since there is nothing else for me to really say about the plot. When the animals talk in Marmaduke it doesn’t look like they are completely animated and works just fine (in the same way the animals in 1995’s Babe worked). When they dance though there is nothing realistic about it and Marmaduke seems to turn into Scooby-Doo. And it looks like garbage! Yeah, yeah, the kids will laugh and who really cares? My theory is that the parents who have to endure the movie do, and filmmakers should at least try to give them something to enjoy as well (Pixar gets this, why does no one else in Hollywood?). Dancing dogs/animals are going into my category of scenes that should never be seen again along with no more Guitar Hero scenes (Couples Retreat) and no more karaoke scenes (Sex and the City 2).

Marmaduke is not as painful to sit through as the other recent comic strip adaptation, Garfield, so it gets an extra star. And there were some moments where I genuinely laughed. Plus, if your kids are going to be happy during and after watching it that’s money well spent. Just don’t expect to make it to the end without a few forehead slaps.

** out of 5 stars

Rated G
Cast: Owen Wilson, Lee Pace, William H. Macy, Judy Greer
Directed by: Tom Dey
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

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Top image: A scene from Marmaduke. Courtesy 20th Century Fox.