As a longtime fan of Chris Pratt’s work, I must admit that I was excited to see him voice Garfield in the latest adaptation. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, I couldn’t resist giving it a watch when it landed on Netflix. To my surprise, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the movie! While it may not have reached the heights of success achieved by The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it was still a fun and entertaining ride that managed to capture Garfield’s sardonic charm perfectly.
In a fresh interpretation of the Jim Davis comic strip, a cat who adores lasagna was heard voicing the character. Despite receiving harsh criticism from critics, the film quickly climbed to the number one spot on Netflix’s U.S. movie chart following its streaming release.
In contrast to Pratt’s massive success in 2023 lending his voice to Nintendo’s iconic Mario character in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” his portrayal of Garfield did not fare as well. The movie debuted this May and managed to earn a decent $257 million globally, which was financially viable given its modest $60 million production budget. Nevertheless, the global revenue for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” exceeded $1.3 billion in April 2023, highlighting a stark contrast in popularity. It’s worth noting that the universal appeal of the video game character Mario has consistently surpassed that of Garfield, Jon Arbuckle’s sarcastic cat, as demonstrated by these box office numbers.
The response to the film, featuring Pratt as Garfield, was not particularly favorable, earning only a 36% Tomatometer score. This is surprisingly lower than the 59% achieved by the Super Mario Bros. Movie from the previous year. However, in the realm of Garfield, this could be considered a success compared to the cat’s cinematic adventures in the 2000s. The original movie and its sequel, both voiced by Bill Murray, performed poorly: Garfield: The Movie scored 14% in 2004, while the 2006 sequel, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, dropped even lower to 12%. So, it seems that Pratt’s movie might have been a hit in its own unique way…kind of.
The Garfield Movie Was a Huge Hit With Audiences
Indeed, it’s not the critics who determine a movie’s box office success. Instead, it’s all about the number of people who choose to watch it in theaters. For instance, The Garfield Movie had a built-in audience of children and their accompanying parents from the get-go. Although many might have been expecting this film to closely resemble Jim Davis’ comic strips, they were instead presented with a unique take on Garfield – one that was distinctly its own. Yet, despite these differences, the movie managed to secure an impressive 80% rating on the Popcornmeter.
Once more, this new movie surpassed its predecessors significantly, with both prior films reaching approximately 40% completion and garnering acclaim for Chris Pratt’s voice acting. While some enthusiastically compared Pratt to Garfield, a character made famous by Mario, others acknowledged that the film didn’t quite match the enjoyment offered by the Nintendo movie.
Since hitting Netflix, “The Garfield Movie” has maintained an upward trend in its audience rating, demonstrating yet again that there’s often a significant gap between what critics value in movies versus viewers. From Netflix’s perspective, viewers seem to be eagerly tuning in to watch the film, regardless of their subsequent opinions. With “Uglies” and “Rebel Ridge” having recently been outshone, Garfield currently reigns supreme on the streaming platform, basking in its popularity until a new contender emerges.
Read More
Sorry. No data so far.
2024-09-24 03:01