Will future film historians, looking back, consider these CGI animal comedies to be the true horror movies of the 2000s? Whether it’s Scooby Doo or Garfield, I know I’ve had more nightmares about awkwardly animated animals talking to me than anything from a Saw movie. Among the terrifying aspects of Marmaduke, an adaptation of the long-running newspaper comic strip, is that the Great Dane of the title winks at you. And dances. Aside from that, the dialogue is excruciating – at one point two “paw” puns are used in succession – while the “family-friendly” message about a workaholic dad (poor Lee Pace) is shoved down your throat. It made me feel terrible – for spending time away from my own family to attend a press screening of Marmaduke. With the voice of Owen Wilson, sounding suspiciously like the dinging of a cash register.
