Marmaduke, an animated comedy film based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name by Brad and Paul Anderson, was released on Netflix on 6 May 2022. Directed by Mark Dippé and co-directed by Matt Whelan, Phil Nibbelink and Youngki Lee, the screenplay was written by Byron Kavanagh.
The film characters are voiced by a stellar cast like Pete Davidson as the voice of Marmaduke, J.K. Simmons as Zeus, Jason Anthony as Ronnie, David Koechner as Phil and Brian Hull as Guy Hilton. The film has a runtime of about 1 hour 30 minutes and is available in English, Hindi, Tamil & Telugu languages.
-Marmaduke Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
What’s It All About?
Marmaduke is about the Great Dane dog of the same name. He is considered a big nuisance by his family due to his destructive antics that cause trouble for everyone. The film starts with Marmaduke exclaiming that his family is mad at him just for being himself. A dog will be a dog, running around everywhere. That’s why his family has banished him upstairs while there’s a birthday party downstairs.
However, he escapes from the window and ends up falling into a pool which floods their whole house. The video of him falling from the sky ended up becoming viral and caught the attention of local media and 6 times World Dog Championship winner & dog trainer Guy Hilton, who is looking for a challenging dog to train to victory in the next World Dog Championship.
Looking at the trainer he seems like an antagonist who is taking on the case of Marmaduke only for fame and prize money of $1 Million dollars. But as they train together and start bonding, we realise that he truly believes in the dog that everyone has shunned as a ‘lost cause’ and thinks that even the trainer, Guy will give up on him soon.
Although, it starts off with a bumpy road and lots of rebelling from Marmaduke but eventually, he starts enjoying training and becomes determined to become the best at everything. Will he be able to become a World Dog Champion or will his mischievous personality and his arch-nemesis Zeus get the better of him? Will Marmaduke’s endeavour ends up victorious or a complete humiliation?
Final Thoughts: Unappealing Animation That’s A Decade Late
Netflix’s Marmaduke looks like a computer-animated film that should have been released in the late 2000s. 20th Century Fox previously released a live-action movie starring Owen Wilson, Emma Stone and George Lopez in 2010. It makes Netflix release a second film in the franchise or maybe the 2010 release should have been the only one.
This movie is suitable for ages 7 and up but looking at its aesthetic and linear storyline, I believe the kids above the age of 7 have better taste in what they would like to consume. Pete Davidson, known for his hilarious comedy sketches on SNL, voiced the main character of Marmaduke. He does a great job with his distinctive voice which suits well in an animated film.
As seen in the trailer, a character saying, ‘no one at school wants to be my friend because our dog is a loser’ is the most ridiculous dialogue I have heard in a while after Tall Girl‘s self-pity intro. The film was supposed to be released in 2019 but got delayed due to the pandemic and is released now. Even after having 2 more years at hand, maybe the creators should have made some changes to make it at least a bit logical and funny. It is a good watch for times when you are tripping and looking for something to fill the silence.
Marmaduke is streaming on Netflix.