'Garfield: The Movie' (PG)(out of four)

Talk about a cat-fight: Puss-in-Boots nearly steals the show in "Shrek 2," then no more than a couple of weeks later, a certain iconic comic strip-turned-cartoon series fat cat comes clawing his way onto the big screen with "Garfield: The Movie."

But if I were a betting person, I'd take Puss-in-Boots paws down.

Even though he's not the center of attention in "Shrek 2," he's infinitely funnier than "Garfield," and this comes despite the fact that he's voiced by comic genius Bill Murray. But even with Murray's purrfect delivery, Antonio Banderas' Boots' take on Garfield's mantra -- "I hate Mondays" -- packs more punch.

The plot of "Garfield: The Movie" is relatively tame: Garfield -- who's graduated from a hand-drawn creation to a completely computer-generated character -- lives a comfortable life with his owner, Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer), enjoying all the food (yes, including lasagna) and television a couch potato could ever want.

But Garfield's lifestyle abruptly changes when Jon finally gets the courage to ask his veterinarian and longtime crush Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt) out on a date. Getting cold feet at the last minute, he stumbles into adopting a dog named Odie from her instead. But his willingness to do so seems to be just what the doctor ordered -- since Liz asks him out instead.

Left out in the cold, naturally, is Garfield. He's jealous of Jon's new four-legged friend because he's getting all of his new master's attention. Furthermore, the pup has become quite popular because of his uncanny dancing abilities.

So as payback, Garfield locks Odie out of the house and the dejected pup runs away. But when Odie ends up in the hands of a conniving pet show host (Stephen Tobolowsky) who is looking to exploit his unique talents, Garfield assembles a rag-tag pet coalition to come to the rescue.

Admittedly, I've never been a big follower of either Jim Davis' "Garfield" comic strip or cartoon series (which featured the late Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield), but I've seen enough to know that the film doesn't have near the whimsical tone of its predecessors. It's more of a run-of-the-mill kids' movie, where tired plot devices are conveniently worked into the story to provide a means to an utterly predictable end. I can't help but think that die-hard fans of Garfield will be disappointed.

That's not to say "Garfield" is a bad movie: For what it is, it's right on target with its intended audience. It's strictly intended for the 12 and under set, where slapstick humor, brainless humans and of course, multi-animal hijinks reign. There's really no clever humor to speak of that will appeal to adults.

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'Garfield' Trailer #1'Garfield' Trailer #2

At the same, parents can take comfort that there's no sexual innuendo or crude jokes layered within the movie. Meyer and Hewitt, of course, would be the source of the thinly veiled stuff if there was any, but basically, the pair makes for a cute couple and deliver what's expected of them. In the end, they're more or less window dressing and don't do anything in the film that's earth-shattering.

If there's one constant in "Garfield," there's no question audiences of all ages will fall in love with Odie. In fact, the adorable dancing pooch all but steals the show from the movie's namesake. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. For the sake of the filmmaker's intentions, I'd say the unintended consequences lean toward the bad. After all, it's not "Odie: The Movie" we're supposed to be watching here.

As for the visual effects, Garfield leads a ho-hum existence in a live-action setting. As a stand-alone character, he's impressive -- and he'd especially fit right in a computer-generated environment.

But in the world of live-action filmmaking, Garfield time and again comes off as a two-dimensional character that doesn't quite blend in as seamlessly as he should. He especially looks out of place given his animal counterparts -- which are real dogs, cats and rats -- are given the talking pet treatment.

Perhaps Odie should go fetch the paper for the filmmakers, open it up to the funnies and have them start again from scratch. "Garfield" is lacking some serious swipe.