“Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties” is the best of movies, it is the worst of movies. More of the worst, though.
The “best” part is that it looks better than the previous “Garfield” movie, where the computer-animated kitty’s weird glow made him resemble a nightlight that couldn’t decide if it wanted to soothe or terrify kids. That kink has been worked out for this second “Garfield” film, although it’s strange to see the computer-animated puss interacting with real animals (and there’s still no explanation for why all the real animals talk except Garfield’s pupesis, Odie).
The worst? Everything else. The title implies a take on Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” but “Kitties” is more akin to Mark Twain’s “The Prince and the Pauper,” with the American Garfield journeying to England, where he’s mistaken for a British prince (apparently, the Brits have gotten so used to Princess Anne being described as “horsey” they’ve gone ahead and conferred royalty on animals).
Given the thankless job of playing straight men to a cartoon cat are Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt, both returning from the first film.
Bill Murray’s Garfield voice is also back, probably because around the Murray house, they call “Garfield” by another name: The Kids’ College Fund. His material isn’t any sharper this time around (Artist-Formerly-Known-as-Prince jokes, anyone?), what with all the best gags going to Garfield’s animal pals.
In general, “Kitties” is more animal-centric than the first “Garfield,” which can only be a good thing when Jennifer Love Hewitt is one of the humans.
“Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties”
PG for naughty humor|1 hour, 15 minutes|ANIMATION|Directed by Tim Hill; voice of Bill Murray|Opens today at area theaters.
