Movie Review
Marmaduke began life as a newspaper comic in 1954, and I’m sure that while the Great Dane’s adventures were popular with many during his time in print, his life on screen was less inspiring.
In 2010, director Tom Day (Failure to Launch) made a live-action film featuring the giant dog, with Owen Wilson providing voice work for the character. The film flopped, with one film critic calling it “the pinnacle of trash” when comparing it to other talking dog movies, including the vapid Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
In fact, talking dog movies are rarely successful, so it’s a wonder why so many continue to be made. Of course, studio executives will say they’re doing it for the kids, but that’s just a small excuse to produce the many dogs (plops) that end up on our television screens.
And here we are again with Marmaduke, the second departure for the beloved Great Dane. This time the movie is fully animated and this might be a relief for those of us who are tired of seeing real animals roaming around on screen for our entertainment. But is it good? In short, no!
Problem With The Story
The problems start with the story. In this game, a legendary dog trainer tries to teach an unruly dog some new tricks, all in an effort to turn it into a dog that can compete in the World Dog Championship. It’s not that the storyline is particularly bad, but since most of the runtime involves the Marmaduke family being away from home, we don’t get to spend much time with the Winslow family, which is part of the comics. It was Marmaduke.
Mess Story
Still, if the writing were funny, any problems with the story could be made intolerable. Unfortunately, the whole thing is just a mess, with a plot that relies on fart jokes instead of cringe-inducing dialogue and genuinely funny comedic scenarios. It’s silly stuff that the kids will probably tire of before the closing credits mercifully start rolling.
Then there’s the animation, which I’m sorry to say is absolutely terrible. This is a surprise, as Marmaduke is directed by former visual effects artist Mark A.Z. Dippe, who worked on films such as Jurassic Park, The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Admittedly, providing visual effects for a film is not the same as creating an animated film, but with his credentials, I really expected better.
If you wanted to freeze the movie, you might be fooled by the fact that it looks great. The art style is quite quirky and of course very colorful. But when you hit the play button, you get a plastic animation that looks very neat in motion. It’s a far cry from The Mitchells Vs The Machines, which has slightly similar visuals but better looking and moving characters within the computer animation techniques used.
Bad Cartoon
So what we have here is a poorly thought out story and a bad cartoon that has little resemblance to any kind of comedy. It really is a horrible dog-like mess that deserves to be picked up and dumped in the nearest trash can. I don’t know what JK Simmons and SNL’s Pete Davidson were thinking when they agreed to provide voice work for this as their talents far exceeded the script they were given.
Of course, I’m an adult, and I’m far from the target audience for this movie. But let’s make one thing clear here. There are better cartoons that don’t patronize their target audience.
Why let your kids watch something that doesn’t tickle both their funny bones and brain cells when they can watch something smarter and more entertaining? You don’t even need kids laughing at fart gas clouds and dog poop!
Bottom Of The Barrel
Marmaduke is bottom of the barrel and has more in common with the likes of Norm of the North and Foodfight than The Mitchells vs The Machines and Ron’s Gone Wrong. Heck, even The Emoji Movie is better than this, and that failed effort consists of talking poop!
I don’t have anything to recommend here, so don’t bother with that. If you’re looking for a dog cartoon, consider Bolt or The Secret Life of Pets instead of Marmaduke. Yes, these movies are a few years old now, but there’s more life in them than this cool effort with less meat than the bones your dog buried in the garden.