Marmaduke, a Netflix film from 2022

 Beverly Hills Chihuahua

A disgusting mess that should be thrown in the nearest trash can is this one.

While I'm sure the Great Dane's escapades were enjoyable with many during his printed run, Marmaduke's life on television has been much less enthralling since his debut in a newspaper comic strip in 1954.

The gigantic dog is the star of a live-action film directed by Tom Dey (Failure to Launch) that was released in 2010. Owen Wilson provided the voice acting.

One critic compared the picture to other talking dog movies, such as the tepid Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and called it the "runt of the litter," indicating that the movie was a failure.

It's a wonder that so many talking dog movies keep getting filmed given how rarely they are commercially successful.

Of course, studio executives will likely claim that they are doing it for the children, but this is a weak justification for creating so many pooch flops (plops) that end up on our television screens.

And here we are with Marmaduke once more, the lovable Great Dane's second outing.

For those who are sick of watching real animals being paraded about on screen for our enjoyment, the fact that this time's film is entirely animated may come as a relief. What about though? Briefly, no!

The story is where the issues start. In this one, a renowned dog trainer makes an effort to teach the unruly dog some new tricks in an effort to transform him into a canine competitor at the World Dog Championship.

The plot

The plot isn't particularly weak, but since Marmaduke spends much of the running time away from his house, the Winslow family, who were just as much a part of the comic strip as Marmaduke was, doesn't receive much screen time.

Even still, any problems with the story may have been tolerable if the writing had been hilarious.

Unfortunately, the entire thing is a complete disaster, with speech that hardly cracks a smile and a plot that depends on fart jokes rather than actually good comic situations. 

Kids will likely become bored of it before the thankfully beginning of the ending credits. It's dumb stuff.

The animation is also truly terrible, which is a sad fact. This comes as a surprise considering that Mark A. Z. Dippé, a former visual effects artist who worked on films like Jurassic Park, The Abyss, and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, is in charge of directing Marmaduke.

Even while creating an animated film isn't quite the same as generating visual effects for a movie, given his credentials, I truly did expect much more.

The movie could deceive you into believing it is attractive if you freeze-frame it. The artwork is definitely highly colourful and in keeping with the quirky theme.

When you press the play button, you'll see clumsy animation that moves in a very awkward manner.

The Machines

It's very different from The Mitchells Vs. The Machines, which employed computer animation to create somewhat comparable images but with characters who looked and moved much better.

Therefore, what we have here is a poorly animated film with a shoddy plot and little to no comedy. It really is a dog-awful mess, one that needs to be picked up and thrown into the closest trash can.

Of course, I'm an adult and a long way from the audience that this film is intended to appeal to. Let's clarify one point, though. There are much better animated films available that don't patronise their intended viewership.

Why allow your children to watch something that doesn't amuse them or stimulate their brains when they could be watching something lot more amusing and intelligent? Even for kids who do giggle at the sight of dog slobber and fart gas clouds, there isn't much of a need!

The Secret Life of Pets

When compared to The Mitchells vs. The Machines and Ron's Gone Wrong, Marmaduke is bottom-of-the-barrel fare. It is more like Norm of the North and Foodfight.

Don't waste your time with this one because there is nothing here that I can even remotely recommend. Instead of Marmaduke, think of Bolt or The Secret Life of Pets if you're seeking for an animated dog movie.

Those films may have been released a while ago, but they still have more vitality than this mediocre attempt, which has less flesh on it than the bones your dog buryes in the garden.