In the world of animation, Illumination can come across as a bit of a red-headed stepchild. Where other studios go big or go for broke, Illumination’s films can sometimes seem like lesser products with lower budgets and far more broad appeal goals. Yet, every so often, one of them breaks through and really shines, as is the case with “Migration,” an animated waterfowl fable from director Benjamin Renner (“Ernest & Celestine,” “The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales...”) and writer Mike White (“School of Rock,” “The White Lotus”).
The film follows a family of mallards; father Mack, voiced by Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley,” “Eternals”), mother Pam, voiced by Elizabeth Banks (“The Hunger Games,” “The LEGO Movie”), preteen son Dax, voiced by Caspar Jennings, daughter Gwen, voiced by Tresi Gazal, and curmudgeonly elderly uncle Dan, voiced by Danny DeVito (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Matilda”), who decide to leave their safe, anxious lifestyle in a New England pond to travel south for the winter for the first time. On their way to Jamaica, they end up finding themselves in New York and a variety of other odd detours.
Renner’s experience with hand drawn animation comes through in spades here with some of the most expressive animation and stylings of any Illumination movie thus far. The squashing and stretching of everything gives it all a sense of earnestness and life that can feel sorely missing in a lot of other Hollywood blockbuster animated films. It's also, like many of Illumination’s films, a gorgeous movie to behold, full of sweeping naturalistic shots, collages of fall colors, and city sightlines that are just beautiful. It helps greatly that the score from John Powell (“How To Train Your Dragon,” “Kung Fu Panda”) is the absolute definition of playful, leading to some moments taking on the sensibilities of a classic Merry Melodies cartoon.
It’s vocal cast also commits to the comedic nature of it all to great effect. Banks proves to be a great calm foil to Nanjiani’s more manic mallard mannerisms, and the kids are fantastic as well, really selling the sibling bickering and the overall familial bond. Devito plays the grumpy uncle well, and the rest of the voice cast is a who’s who of comedic talents that all play their roles well, from a Jamaican parrot voiced by Kegan Michael Key (“Wendell and Wild,” “Wonka”) to a terrifying elderly heron voiced by Carole Kane (“The Princess Bride,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) and a streetwise pigeon voice by Awkwafina (“Ocean’s 8,” “The Farewell”) in one of the best uses of her gravely vocal touches in years.
What this adventure consists of, though, isn’t really anything unique. It’s a road movie with a bunch of birds, going from place to place and meeting colorful new characters as they go. Renner and White don’t try to reinvent the wheel with this one, but the script is kept lively and bright, leaning heavily on silly familial banter and antics. It’s in that seeming simplicity and routine story that White mines for some emotional resonance, and while he doesn’t exactly craft a wholly unique tale, what’s here is undeniably entertaining and fun.
“Migration” is a movie for the whole flock, uncomplicated and entertaining. It’s just a silly little fun movie, one that doesn’t try to be wholly silly for the kids or overly smart for the adults. It’s a fun little piece of animated road movie folly. A great voice cast, a great score, gorgeous visuals, and a dearth of fart jokes. What more could you ask for with a modern Hollywood animated film? 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment