MARMADUKE

“MARMADUKE” (Voice of Owen Wilson)

It was a little odd hearing Marley’s master as the voice of someone else’s dog, but I got over it. I’m somewhat perplexed as to why this didn’t do better at the box office – this is exactly the kind of kiddie flick that usually makes hundreds of millions. Add the sluggish receipts from ‘Cats & Dogs 2’ & you get the feeling that parents are tired of seeing real animals speaking with computer enhanced mouths because I guarantee you the kids aren’t tired of them.
There is nothing wrong with this cute little outing which should please any dog lover as long as you go into it realizing you’re seeing a movie geared toward tykes. It had more doggie scenes than human scenes (a plus) It had more than it’s share of cutesy moments - being a beagle owner, I particularly enjoyed them being portrayed as ‘drama queens’.
& it had a moral to teach the impressionable audience (myself included) about friendship.
I also liked the fact that they didn’t run the 'huge dog creates havoc' set-up into the ground – Yes, there were more than a few of those, but it centered more on the friendship between Marmaduke & the 3 ‘mutt’ friends that he abandons to join the ‘purebred’ snobs. Throw in a couple of poignant scenes – the best involving a cow toy that oinks - & there’s nothing wrong with this movie. So why did critics blast it as being crap & why have audiences stayed away? Well, my only answer to that is the same as when people flock to crap like “Inception” just because critics tell them how wonderful it is... Would have been more apropos if that toy cow went ‘baa, baa, baa’.