Garfield origin tale is a whisker dull and far from purrfect

(G, 100 minutes)

1 star

The latest Garfield movie starts off in the usual vein for the tubby orange cat. It's never too early or too late in the day for a lasagna followed by a caramel pudding. Now drone delivery makes it instantaneous.

It's fair enough, I suppose. No point beginning with a rumbly tummy. And ordering takeaway by mobile phone brings this comic strip character from the late 1970s right up to date. On this occasion, the creator of Garfield, Jim Davis, has given the green light to an origin story for his famous grouchy, overweight feline. It was time to explain where all the attitude came from. Who knew.

It all begins one dark and stormy night after Garfield's father, Vic (Samuel L Jackson voicing), has wandered off in search of food. He would be right back, but that takes too long and Garfield junior (Chris Pratt), left all alone, trots across the alley to check out a delicious aroma drifting his way from an Italian restaurant. The smell of pepperoni and cheese is irresistible.

It could be said that it was Vic who was abandoned. For pizza. Demonstrating the usual feline priorities, Garfield immediately attaches himself to whoever is the next best chance for a meal. That turns out to be Jon Arbuckle (Nicholas Hoult), dining alone, who introduces Garfield to the wonderful world of pasta and pizza. He takes the stray kitty home, of course.

Once Jon's life has been turned upside down and Garfield, like any other self-respecting house cat, is in charge of the joint, life is purrfect. He can push Jon and his pet dog Odie (Harvey Guillen) around, monopolise the couch while snoozing or watching Catflix, and max out Jon's credit card with orders for takeaway with impunity. Mondays are for some reason a bugbear but being unemployed isn't. It's a wonderful life.

This perfect existence is rudely interrupted one day when Garfield and Odie are kidnapped by Jinx, an exotic Persian cat, voiced by Hannah Waddingham. Jinx hates Vic for letting her get caught and thrown into the pound, so she gets back at him this way. She gives Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians and Ursula the sea witch of The Little Mermaid a run for their money as the meanest, nastiest villainess in the world of children's animation.

So, Garfield, who has felt abandoned since he was little, must confront his issues with his absent dad. Vic has arrived out of nowhere, and is urging his long-lost son to improvise, think on his feet, be confident, find team spirit. Boosting his son, the quintessential indoor cat, to find the outdoor cat he carries within.

Some unnecessarily elaborate plotting helps guide Garfield towards this self-actualisation as Jinx makes everyone take part in a heist at an agribusiness plant. The strange escapade does at least introduce the character of Otto (Ving Rhames), a gloomy bull put out to pasture by the mercenary imperatives of big business.

Pratt, often cast in the action genre, doesn't bring anything particular to this movie. Big Bill Murray, cast in Garfield: The Movie in 2004, was better suited in the role.

Director Mark Dindal (The Emperor's New Groove) has done his best with the dull and clunky material here. Screenwriters Paul A Kaplan, Mark Torgove and David Reynolds have tried to enliven the narrative with trendy, on-message observations but it only makes the whole enterprise sound all the more hollow.

So that's it? Garfield's a pain because he felt abandoned as a kid. As an origin story, it neutralises the grumpy, snarky character traits that he is famous for.

Lazy, greedy and cynical are not the most engaging character traits, though we do get the point that Garfield allows some of us time out from a relentless daily routine or quest for self-improvement, or whatever. Parents of toddlers trying to instil good habits will, however, cringe as Garfield stuffs his face with fast foods after tossing out the few greens. Others may be thinking about the epidemic of obesity in affluent societies these days.

None of this will engage the kids much. The daily gag in a four-panel strip that has sustained many over breakfast since 1978 runs out awful quick during the course of a feature film. Little to recommend here.