Marmaduke (2010/Fox Blu-ray w/DVD + DVD single)
Picture: B-/C+
Sound: B-/C+ Extras: C- Film: C-
Making a comic strip into a feature anything should not be
too hard, yet even something this simple gets botched often because it becomes
a package deal with no serious thought to it whatsoever. In 1980, the Brad Anderson/Phil Leeming
series Marmaduke had no problems
becoming part of a Heathcliff TV
cartoon series, but the new 2010 live-action feature film from Fox is a mess that
might have been following the Alvin & The Chipmunks “playbook” but it was a
very bad idea.
Also bad was hiring director Tom Dey, whose track record
includes the highly overrated Shanghai
Noon and outright bombs Showtime
and Failure To Launch, reflecting a
bad recent Hollywood trend to reward failure
and expect to make money out of it. Owen
Wilson is actually a good choice to voice the title character, joined by Emma
Stone, George Lopez, Sam Elliott, Marlon Wayans, Steve Coogan, Stacey Ferguson
and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, but none of them can save this tired, formulaic
mess from being a bore. Also blame the
inane script by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio. What a shame.
The 1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @ 26 MBPS digital High Definition
image was shot in the Super 35mm format by Greg Gardiner (Men In Black II) and takes good footage and degrades it with
ill-advised styling and plenty of bad digital effects and animation, especially
of dog’s mouths moving. Color is limited
and the anamorphically enhanced DVDs are even poorer, so don’t expect any demo
shots. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
mix is also limited in soundfield with some audio not recorded very well and
the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is even weaker.
Extras in both editions include Canine Casting, Deleted
Scenes and Cowabarka! – More Surfing Dogs.
A Marmaduke Mayhem Gag Reel and Home Movies bit are also included on the
Blu-ray, but not considered exclusive.
The DVD in the Blu-ray set has not extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
