Jim Davis's comic strip Garfield is read by 260 million comic fans in 2,600 newspapers around the world, according to the promotional notes for the movie Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties.
And most of those newspapers are less than enthusiastic about this movie.
In this, the second Garfield film to feature Bill Murray as the voice of the cynical cat, Garfield travels with his owner to London, where he ends up in a case of mistaken identity, and ends up enjoying "the royal treatment" in a castle. But Christian movie reviewers are treating it like the common, unremarkable film that it is.
David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says it's "unobjectionable yet uninspired, visually competent yet narratively anemic. … [T]he bland script once again relies heavily on the kind of screwball sight gags and slapstick that the kiddies may find amusing, but—even at a mere 75 minutes—may induce accompanying adults to take a catnap."
Marcus Yoars (Plugged In) says, "[C]omic-strip cat-lovers will likely be no more impressed or disappointed than they were with Garfield: The Movie. Bill Murray is once again spot-on in capturing the sass and Napoleonic ego of Garfield. Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt make a cute head-over-heels couple. And, um, the landscaping of the Carlisle estate is impeccable. How's that for cooking up some kind words for this otherwise unmemorable film?"
Most mainstream critics find the film about as fun as cleaning a litter box.