It’s hard to think of another film studio who’s so quickly turned from being the laughingstock to a dream team. While Sony Pictures Animation always had some creative spirit, evidenced by films like “Surf’s Up” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” it wasn’t until Chris Lord and Phil Miller came along that the world really started to pay attention. Now, blending the overexaggerated cartoony nature of “Meatball” and “Hotel Transylvania” with the heart and art style of “Into the Spider-Verse” Lord and Miller have brought us the epic tale of “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.”
While on the surface a fairly routine tale of a family bonding road trip interrupted by a technological uprising, it’s in the details where the film truly shines. The way the story is communicated feels wholly unique, thanks to the two different art styles at play. There’s the most obvious one; the film’s bright colors and thick grease pencil lines makes everything pop with energy and leads every paused moment to look like a work of pure hand drawn art. It’s a thrilling unique look and one that Sony will hopefully continue to build upon outside of the world of animated Spider-Man.
Secondly is the film’s heavy use of filters, 2D drawing, sketches, and freeze frame humor that work on multiple levels. Director/co-writer Mike Rianda (“Gravity Falls”) uses them as a way to capture the odd humor of these characters and their adventure but also a way to get to know Katie Mitchell, voiced by Abbi Jacobson (“Broad City,” “Disenchantment”). With her dream to be a filmmaker, every moment viewed through her eyes has some sort of effect applied to it to truly show the world through her eyes. It’s a frankly genius way to use art and stylistic decisions to communicate something to the audience, much like the animation of “Spider-Verse”, and it’s a great addition.
Speaking of Jacobson, she leads a truly hilarious cast that brings wonderful comedic timing and emotional depth to their performances. Rounding out the cast is Danny McBride (“Eastbound and Down,” “Pineapple Express”) as her father Rick, putting more emotion into this role than possibly any of his prior, Maya Rudolph (“Bridesmaids,” “Big Mouth”) as her mother Linda, an overzealous oddball of heart and emotion, and Mike Rianda as her brother Aaron, a Dino obsessed pre-teen who might be the film’s single best comedic tool. Eric Andre (“The Eric Andre Show,” “Man Seeking Woman”) is also here doing a great tech billionaire parody, Olivia Colman (“The Favourite,” “Fleabag”) is frankly kind of chilling as the evil AI PAL, and Beck Bennett (“Saturday Night Live,” “Ducktales (2017)”) and Fred Armisen (“Saturday Night Live,” “Documentary Now”) voice a pair of defective robots who are absolute scene stealers for virtually the entire film.
Technology is a huge theme here. It’s not just a stand-in apocalyptic problem the family needs to work together to overcome. Like many other family films, the themes of screen time, mobile phones, and connecting with family are hugely at play here, yet the film does something daringly obvious: it doesn’t pick a side. It avoids siding with the technophobic parents or the tech obsessed kids and demonizing the other. This leads to a tale of emotion, where people are forced to explain their feelings and it’s a truly heartwarming tale because of it. It doesn’t take the easy route to its story, requiring more creative effort in how it’s approached, and it does wonders.
This is, without a doubt, a film with an identity and a personality. This isn’t just evident from the visual aspects, but also in how openly cheesy and silly it all is. While not as overly cartoony as previous Lord and Miller productions like “Meatballs” or “The LEGO Movie”, Rianda and co-writer Jeff Rowe (“Disenchantment,” “Gravity Falls”) have created a film that wears its heart firmly and proudly on its sleeve. There’s a lot of emotional family talk, karaoke, home movies, and celebration of identity going on. It might rob the film of the “seriousness” of other modern animation projects from studios like Pixar, but it also gives everything a layer of authenticity. You really, genuinely, care and believe that this group of four weirdos and their possibly mutated dog are a family.
This big beating heart, wonderful sense of emotion, fantastic visuals that work on multiple levels, and absolutely stellar voice cast, all wrapped up in an infectiously great musical score from Marks Motherbaugh (“The LEGO Movie,” “Thor Ragnarok”), help prop up a plot that’s technically kind of routine (this is the second Sony Pictures Animation film from Lord and Miller that features a kill code). Yet, that’s not an issue when you’re watching an adventure so brilliantly realized and blissfully silly. This might very well be the first must-see movie of 2021. 5/5
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