FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (15) ★★★★I
In an amusing opening sequence, which flatters to deceive, the eponymous round-bellied tabby (voiced by Chris Pratt) promises to tell us the story of how he ‘adopted’ his long-suffering human owner Jon Arbuckle (Nicholas Hoult).
“You will not be disappointed,” grins Garfield as lovable beagle Odie (Harvey Guillen) scurries around him.
Alas, that’s a promise director Mark Dindal fails to keep in this flat computer-animated adventure.
Based on characters created by Jim Davis for a comic strip dating back to the mid-1970s, The Garfield rfield Movie is a victim of an uninspired spired script that opts for r the most obvious punchlines or bypasses sses them entirely. y.
Thus, rapper Snoop Dogg’s onscreen en alter ego is named Snoop Catt, Garfield’s d’s streaming service of choice is Catflix.
As a kitten, Garfield (Pratt) is abandoned by his father Vic (Samuel L Jackson) and left to fend for himself in an alleyway.
Many years later, an unexpected case of catnapping reunites Garfield with his larcenous pater, who is heavily indebted to diabolical feline Jinx (Hannah Waddingham).
Vic must steal over 1,600 quarts of milk from Lactose Farm or her snarling henchdogs Roland (Brett Goldstein) and Nolan (Bowen Yang) will dole out some not-so-cartoonish violence.
Vic, Garfield, Odie and lovesick bull Otto (Ving Rhames) join forces for the outlandish robbery.
The Garfield Movie pales next to the sarcasm-soaked comic strip that inspired it.
Three screenwriters neglect to arm a gifted ensemble en vocal cast w with zinging one-lin liners as the running runnin time slinks well beyond beyon 90 minutes. minute
Animation Anim is colourful colourfu and crisp but Dindal’s Dinda film is Garfield in name alone.
In cinemas cine now
DIRECTOR George Miller’s turbocharged prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road bolts together an origin story spanning 15 years for the warrior originally embodied by Charlize Theron.
Portrayed here by Anya Taylor-Joy in womanhood and Alyla Browne as a snarling youngster, Furiosa rampages between the co-dependent strongholds of The Citadel, the Bullet Farm and Gas Town.
Ten-year-old Furiosa (Browne) lives in the Green Place of Many Mothers, a hidden enclave of abundance, at a time when “mankind has gone rogue” and food, water and fuel are highly coveted.
A marauding biker gang snatches the girl from her defiant mother, Mary Jabasa (Charlee Fraser), and spirits Furiosa away to their bombastic, self-aggrandising leader, Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).
“Make yourself invaluable and Dementus will look after you,” heavily tattooed sage, The History Man (George Shevtsov), counsels.
Furiosa heeds these words and eventually defects to The Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who rules The Citadel with feral sons Rictus Erectus (Nathan Jones) and Scrotus ( Josh Helman).
As the resourceful tyke transitions into womanhood (now played by Taylor-Joy), Furiosa aligns with Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), who drives a war rig to trade the Citadel’s fresh produce
with the Bullet Farm and Gas Town until Dementus interrupts the supply chain.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga dovetails perfectly with Fury Road, though from a storyline perspective, it’s less compelling.
Taylor-Joy is glowering and wordless for extended periods and copes magnificently with the rugged physicality of her role, while co-star Browne, as the adolescent Furiosa, tugs at the heart.
Embellished with a distracting prosthetic nose and prominent rock ‘n’ roll codpiece, Hemsworth embraces camp psychosis as the unhinged antagonist.
Miller’s prequel trundles on narrative exhaust fumes in a plodding middle act, but can rely on breathlessly staged, large-scale set pieces of automotive carnage to regain momentum.
Jaw-dropping production design completely immerses us in a world where bombastic men reign with cruelty.
They reap what they sow.
In cinemas now
Miller’s prequel trundles on narrative exhaust fumes in a plodding middle act, but can rely on... set pieces of automotive carnage to regain momentum.