Talking animal movies have been pretty common in recent years. But this talking animal movie is based on a comic strip character, which is a little different. It’s good ol’ Marmaduke.
For a change, Owen Wilson doesn’t play the owner of a dog – instead he does the voice of Marmaduke, who is a teenage Great Dane who lives with a loving family and a cat named Carlos (who’s voiced by George Lopez). The family decides to move from Kansas to California because Phil, the father, gets a new job.
Once in California, everyone tries to adjust to their new lives, including Marmaduke, who makes some new friends and some enemies, while trying to fit-in but still be himself.
From the trailers I thought “Marmaduke” was going to filled with slapstick gags and bad jokes and not have much of a story. But the film surprised me. There is a real story here and some light drama and very little corny humor. There are some funny scenes and cleaver dialogue, but not a lot of laugh-out-loud moments.
Wilson is perfectly cast as Marmaduke, and Lopez is good as well, but I wish he had a bigger role. Lee Pace plays Phil. William H. Macy, who is back in another family film, plays Phil’s boss, the owner of a pet food company. He bounces-back nicely after being part of the dreadfully awful “Shorts” last summer. Fergie and Keifer Sutherland are among the rest of the voice cast.
“Maramadule” is rated PG for some very mild language. It’s appropriate for all kids, even the little ones, who will enjoy all the talking dogs and an exciting action scene. Parents may have a tougher time enjoying it, unless they’re real dog lovers.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Marmaduke” gets a C+
It’s certainly not the greatest family film of all-time or even the greatest talking-dog movie of all-time, but it’s entertaining enough for a younger audience and a heck of a lot more fun for everyone than “Furry Vengeance” or “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” or some of the other terrible live-action family comedies of 2010.