When some movies are announced, they are greeted with wall-to-wall hype, with everyone excitedly talking about how they can’t wait for the movie to come out. Other movies, however, are met with confusion, with internet users unsure what to make of them and questioning why someone decided to make the movie in the first place.
This has been the story of Clifford the Big Red Dog. Based on the beloved children’s books by Norman Bridwell, the series follows a family with a gigantic, kaiju-sized dog. Ever since the first still from the movie was released in December 2019, people have been unsure about the film. Many users have spent hours debating if a computer-animated Clifford could capture the spirit and whimsy of the original books or the popular 2D cartoon.
However, after several release delays caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the film has hit theaters and the Paramount+ streaming platform. Despite mixed reviews from critics, the film had a decent opening day, earning $2.3 million, suggesting that some people were very keen to see it.
And, like any big film release, especially one based on a beloved franchise, Twitter has quickly filled up with hot takes, memes, and opinions of all kinds.
Many Twitter users are talking about the movie’s star-studded cast. Many are realizing that several surprising actors have roles in the film.
Others have turned their focus to the movie’s reviews, poking fun at some of the extravagant language used to describe this children’s film. This includes one Twitter user posting part of Owen Gleiberman’s review for Variety.
Other users are focused on the “downsides” of having a dog as big as Clifford.
While another notes that Clifford’s vet would have to perform several herculean tasks.
However, the most controversial genre of Clifford tweet right now focuses on its review scores. Several Twitter users have noted that Clifford The Big Red Dog has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than Marvel’s Eternals. Having a 54% critic score and a 86% audience score against Eternals’ 46% critic and 80% audience score.
It will be interesting to see how people’s opinion of the Clifford the Big Red Dog movie changes over time as more people, especially those from its target audience, get the chance to watch it. However, regardless of this movie’s success, it seems like the big red dog will delight children for decades to come, be it on the big screen, the small screen, or in books.