(U, 80mins) Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Billy Connolly, Lucy Davis, Ian Abercrombie and the voices of Bill Murray, Tim Curry, Bob Hoskins, Richard E Grant. Directed by Tim Hill.

Putting a feline spin on the classic fable The Prince And The Pauper (or as this film puts it, Paw-purr), Garfield 2 is a colourful family comedy caterwauling for a decent screenplay.

Murray's energetic vocal performance as the computer-generated, lasagne-loving kitty, dripping with sarcasm, can only sustain the film so far.

Eventually, even he grows bored with the flimsy excuse for a plot and reverts to singing and a fleeting Hannibal Lecter impersonation (the fava beans line) to drag out the running time to 80 minutes.

The cat's long-suffering owner Jon Arbuckle (Meyer) intends to propose to his pretty veterinarian girlfriend, Liz Wilson (Hewitt), but the mood is wrecked by the selfish cat and Liz's shock announcement that she is leaving for London to attend a conference at Carlyle Castle.

Lifting himself from his gloom, Jon decides to surprise Liz by secretly flying to England and asking for her hand in marriage there instead.

He leaves Garfield (voiced by Murray) and pooch pal Odie at the kennels but, of course, the enterprising animals sneak into his luggage On the streets of the capital, Garfield is mistaken for his doppelganger, a cat called Prince (Curry), who has just inherited Castle Carlyle from the recently deceased Lady Eleanor.

Unfortunately, Lady Eleanor's dastardly nephew Lord Dargis (Connolly) believes he is the rightful heir of the family estate, not the darn cat, and so he schemes to remove Garfield from Castle Carlyle. Permanently.

The sequel's change of location from Garfield's cosy cul-de-sac to a glorious country pile in the heart of merry ole England provides obvious comic moments as the overweight American tabby gets to grips with the ways of the aristocracy.

Supporting characters - a menagerie of talking animals, which seem to have been shipped en masse from the Babe films - are largely forgettable, including Jane Leeves and Jane Horrocks as ducks Eenie and Meenie and Sharon Osbourne as the goose Christophe.

The one notable exception is Winston the bulldog, voiced by Bob Hoskins, who seems a perfect match for man's best friend.

Billy Connolly sneers, leers and gnaws the scenery as the scheming villain of the piece a dastardly toff with a greedy eye on the family silver - but looks somewhat uneasy with some of the physical comedy.

Digital trickery used to bring the eponymous feline to life has improved greatly since the first film. However, there are still jarring moments when Garfield doesn't interact as we expect with the background or the human actors.