The Garfield Movie review: This cartoon cat’s bizarrely tragic origin story has to be seen to be believed

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Now that “the tragic backstory” has become a cheap narrative shortcut to respectability, Garfield’s affection for lasagne is really a trauma response from when he was abandoned as a kitten outside of an Italian restaurant. And instead of Garfield’s gluttony being a cute quirk, we’re forced to spend an entire movie reckoning with the possibility this cat may, in fact, have developed a serious eating disorder. Garfield and Vic are forced to team up, with Jon’s dog and Garfield’s “unpaid intern” Odie in tow, and rob an industrial farm in order to repay Vic’s debts to Jinx. Catastrophe: Garfield, as voiced by Chris Pratt, in ‘The Garfield Movie’ Pratt’s performance as Garfield is much the same as his performance as Mario in last year’s The Super Mario Bros Movie – just one part of Hollywood’s ongoing plan to miscast him at every opportunity, despite how obviously he’s suited to himbo roles.