| Release Date: April 30, 2021 (United States) Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy IMDb Rating: 7.8 Director: Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Michael Rianda, Eric André, Olivia Colman, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Conan O’Brien |
Just finished watching The Mitchell’s vs The Machines for the second time and I gotta start by saying that I don’t know what they are drinking lately at Sony Animation Pictures but I want some of that crazy juice!! Yes, the studio has had some failures in the past like The Emoji Movie…(remembers it like if it were Vietnam).
But they have also had some awesome hits like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. By this point Phil Lord and Chris Miller should produce all future films, you gotta keep your lucky charms close to your vest.
Getting back to the review, The Mitchell’s vs The Machines is the directorial debut of Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe (best known for their work on Gravity Falls, which explains a lot about the end product that we got). The story follows Katie’s dysfunctional family as they set on a road trip to take her to college, and everything seems fine…UNTIL THE MACHINE APOCALYPSE BEGINS AND THEY BECOME HUMANITY’S LAST HOPE!! Sounds fun right?
From the start, the story does a great job of introducing the members of the family and showing you what makes them stand out. Rick Mitchell (voiced by Danny McBride) is the alpha leader of the family, who prefers the outdoors and he does not get along with technology or with Katie. Linda Mitchell (voiced by Maya Rudolph) is the loving mother and is your basic social media fan. Then you have Aaron Mitchell (voiced by Rianda himself), the youngest of the family and Katie’s only friend, who also LOVES dinosaurs. Then you have Monchi, the family’s dog (voiced by Doug the Pug…I’m not joking on this one, they actually got a real pug to voice the character in the film). And finally our main character Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abby Jacobson), an aspiring filmmaker that always felt she didn’t belong anywhere except with the people from film school; we see the movie through her filmmaking eyes as she makes certain “director changes” through the story.
I describe all these aspects of the characters because they are important parts of their characters’ arcs. Throughout the movie, they each have their moments where their quirks are highlighted, especially during the climax when their arcs are reached in a very fun and entertaining way.
Katie is the character I enjoyed the most because I felt more familiar with her in more ways than one. I empathize with her love for film and her relationship with her dad.
Before going to film school, I also felt like a quirky outsider that didn’t quite fit with other people, including at home. I shared her belief that once I got to film school, things would be different, and in the end, it kinda was because I did meet some amazing people that became my friends. I know the “do you really think you’re going to make a living out of these (filmmaking)” speech coming from your father, who also didn’t show that much interest in the projects that I was doing in film school; don’t get me wrong, I got his support all the way until I graduated…but I would be lying if I said that I didn’t wish for more during that time. So yeah, I connected with Katie’s character in the first 10 minutes, and she has more qualities that I’m sure other people will identify with one way or the other.
Every time I see an animated movie, I pay close attention to its animation and how it’s used to tell its story by pushing the limits that live-action has, and this film pushes them to all-new levels of storytelling by giving us a new groundbreaking animation style. It’s this weird yet awesome combination of classic 2D animation with the 3D style that we are used to nowadays. The style is very similar to the concept arts that are released way before the teaser trailer is released, only that this time they’re actually moving in 3D while retaining that classic 2D. It kinda reminded me of the animation from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that maintained its comic book style.
But they don’t just use this style throughout the movie, they throw in real-life footage that can be found on YouTube, watercolor paintings on the backgrounds, and some very simple cartoons popping here and there.
It sounds chaotic enough to not work, but in the end, it does work…and it’s so beautiful.
The use of all of those styles of animation is helpful for emphasizing the comedic, action, dramatic moments of the story. Personally, I think that if Sony sticks to this style of animation and applies it to the right stories, they could easily give other animation studios like Pixar a decent fight. It’s an outstanding job done by everyone involved with the production design, editing, animation, coloring, cinematography, and all other departments involved. If by any chance any of them are reading this, I congratulate you on your hard work.
All of that fancy animation doesn’t work if you don’t have a well-written story to apply it to. As said before, the core of this story is about how a family can come together no matter how dysfunctional it can be, it’s been done before and it’s a concept that most audiences can relate to. But what makes this story different is how it attacks the issues of how today’s family have become more disconnected by technology by using satire and the previously mentioned unique style of animation. I did find the story predictable most of the time, but the jokes and visuals that are used to travel through those well-known story beats make them a lot of fun, even if it’s predictable.
It should also be noted that the creators didn’t shy away from putting an openly LGBTQ character like Katie as the main character of their story. While other animation studios usually dance around this theme and prefer not to address it directly because it might upset a portion of their audiences, these people treat it as something normal about the character. We live in a time where the representation of different groups is needed. It is nice to see this in family-oriented films so the youngest audiences can know that there’s nothing wrong with them from an early stage and that they will always have their people to be there for them no matter what.
While there are many themes that can be discussed, like the misuse of technology or the invasion that tech companies have on our private lives.
You’ll find at its core that the message is to embrace and love what makes you and other people “different”, especially those that form your family. Your siblings might be weird, but they can be the most loyal friends you can find. Your mom might annoy you to no end, but seeing her smile is always worth it. And your dad might not get you most of the time, but he’ll always do what’s best for you because he loves you.
Is every family normal? I guess only a small percentage can be qualified as such, I know that my family isn’t and probably would never come close to being normal, but I can’t love them. And if the time comes for me to have my own family in the future, I know that I would embrace every single quirkiness that comes along with them in the same way that the Mitchells did…ESPECIALLY DURING A MACHINE APOCALYPSE!
Score: I’ll watch this movie anytime and anywhere.
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