Marmaduke

Check out our review of Marmaduke - is it any good and how suitable is it for kids?

A Dog's Purpose Poster

Marmaduke

Starring: Lee Pace, William H Macy. Voices by Owen Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland. (U)

Release date: 2010

3 out of 5

3

One for very junior members of the audience, this family comedy is based on the newspaper comic strip about a Great Dane dog that unintentionally causes havoc wherever he goes. He’s the pet of Phil Winslow (Pace) and his family, who have relocated to sunny California for Phil’s new job. While Phil is spending his days trying to please his wacky pet food tycoon boss (Macy), Marmaduke (voiced by Wilson) is getting to know the other animals at the local park, including the foxy mutt Jezebel (Fergie) and butch bullying dog Bosco (Sutherland).
While the dogs are real-life animals, their lips have been synched to match the voices of the actors, which is faintly disturbing to watch (especially when the doggy ‘lips’ that are moving belong to a slobbering Great Dane). Kids won’t be bothered, however, and they’ll have quite a few chuckles as Marmaduke gets into various scrapes, and while grown-ups will be reminded of numerous other (better) comedies, there are moments when Marmaduke has a splashy adventure near the end that will entertain them, too. 

Is Marmaduke suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...

Not really, although very little ones will be worried about Marmaduke towards the end when he's in danger for a few minutes.

If you like this, why not try: Furry Vengeance, Yogi Bear, Garfield, Hotel For Dogs, Beethoven,