Marmaduke

Certainly, children's films are generally not made for adult film critics. What we shake our heads at many a time makes kids burst out laughing. Thus, many children's films also elude any form of reasonable criticism. But every now and then there are films that are so unfunny and uncharitable that it is the duty of critics to warn parents not to send their children to such trash. "Marmaduke" is one such nasty piece of trash.

Based on the popular comic strips, but never coming close to matching their charm for a single second, the film tells of Great Dane Marmaduke (voiced by Christian Ulmen), who must move to California with his family, the Winslows, and his best friend, cat Carlos (voiced by comedian Bülent Ceylan). Here, different customs prevail than the chaos mutt has been used to so far. Although he quickly finds new friends in dog lady Lucy (voiced by Nora Tschirner) and her boys, Marmaduke quickly learns that this clique is not very cool. He would much rather win the heart of collie lady Beverly. But to do that, he first has to get past her friend, the alpha dog Rocco. And that turns out to be almost impossible.

With completely stale moral messages and stale gags, where loud dog farts are just as unmissable as the obligatory kick in the groin, "Marmaduke" still wouldn't be really good on its own, but definitely more bearable than this is. There is hardly an aspect of this film that works. The human actors all deliver performances that are well beyond the point of being extraneous. Lee Pace, for instance, who certainly proved his acting chops in the wonderful "Pushing Daisies" and the visual cinema romp "The Fall", is not allowed to do more here than fall down, slip, and shout MARMADUKE in annoyance. Even William H. Macy, who after all has won several awards for his work, barely shows a spark of his otherwise available talent. For that, the actors should really sue their agents.

The yakking critters don't do much better, though. That's because of the subterraneously bad dialogue put in their mouths, though. And when the dogs go surfing and invite you to the obligatory community dance at the end, which has been obligatory since "Shrek", any viewer with a hint of intelligence is left with nothing but shaking their heads in disbelief. The same goes for the moral of the story: to be sure, the main message of the film (be who you are and don't pretend for others) isn't wrong, and it's conveyed very well for children to understand. But as far as the teaching of family values is concerned, the whole thing completely misses the reality: here we are told again: if daddy has to work a lot so that the family can afford a nice home with all the luxuries (pool, etc.), that's bad, because daddy has to spend more time with his wife and kids. In reality, if a family man decides to do this, it usually means an end to employment or at least a loss of earnings. Here, however, Phil's decision is rewarded: not only does it mean he gets to spend more time with his loved ones, he even gets a promotion and more money for it.

Sure, there are plenty of scenes and characters for kids to laugh their heads off at. But that doesn't make this movie any good. There are so many fine children's films out there, it's really not imperative to pollute the minds of the young with such a machination. I love dogs, but this mutt should really be put to sleep - preferably together with the career of those who are responsible for this film. Therefore: in no case recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp