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The Mitchells VS the Machines
Netflix, Columbia Pictures, and Sony Animation provide pretty solid entertainment with The Mitchells VS The Machines, a manic and eye-popping animated adventure from 2021 whose simple story of the power of family vs technology gets a little too complex, but the technical artistry of what ends up on the screen cannot be ignored.
Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is a techno-geek and amateur filmmaker who is excitedly preparing to board a plane tomorrow to attend a California film school. Katie's dad, Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) is going to miss his little girl more than he thought and impulsively cancels Katie's flight and decides they are going to make taking Katie to college a cross country road with trip with her mom, Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph), her little brother Aaron, and their dog Monchi.
Meanwhile, an international media company called PAL is introducing a new line of robots designed to make life easier for humans. Unfortunately, the robots malfunction and ignore Mark (voiced by Eric Andre), the influencer introducing the robots to the world and only answer to the queen of Pal, a smart phone (voiced by Oscar winner Olivia Colman), who makes it the mission of the robots to capture and destroy all humans, but things fall to Katie and her dad to stop PAL and her robot minions.
Director and co-screenwriter Michael Rianda has constructed a really lovely story at the heart of this film that almost gets buried under so much padded story and technical wizardry that the story gets away from him a bit, making the movie about 25 minutes longer than it needs to be. The simple story of how humans and technology are dependent on each other almost gets strangled among the cinematic wizardry utilized to bring the story to the screen.
What I loved about this film is the artistry and authenticity that went into a lot of the animated set pieces in the story. I'm always fascinated seeing things in animated form that I have never seen in animated form before. Look at the detail that went into the billboards, an ice machine, the Wizard of Globe mall, Katie's notebook with her plans in it, and the Dino Pit Stop. The detail is so remarkable that it's easy to overlook. Also loved the fact that the heart of this movie is the relationship between Katie and her dad.
In addition to the voice cast already referenced, mention should also be made of John Legend and his wife Chrissy Tiegen as the family's neighbors and the fact that the dog Monchi is actually voiced by a dog. It's longer than it needs to be, but there's solid entertainment and artistry here.
Netflix, Columbia Pictures, and Sony Animation provide pretty solid entertainment with The Mitchells VS The Machines, a manic and eye-popping animated adventure from 2021 whose simple story of the power of family vs technology gets a little too complex, but the technical artistry of what ends up on the screen cannot be ignored.
Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is a techno-geek and amateur filmmaker who is excitedly preparing to board a plane tomorrow to attend a California film school. Katie's dad, Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) is going to miss his little girl more than he thought and impulsively cancels Katie's flight and decides they are going to make taking Katie to college a cross country road with trip with her mom, Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph), her little brother Aaron, and their dog Monchi.
Meanwhile, an international media company called PAL is introducing a new line of robots designed to make life easier for humans. Unfortunately, the robots malfunction and ignore Mark (voiced by Eric Andre), the influencer introducing the robots to the world and only answer to the queen of Pal, a smart phone (voiced by Oscar winner Olivia Colman), who makes it the mission of the robots to capture and destroy all humans, but things fall to Katie and her dad to stop PAL and her robot minions.
Director and co-screenwriter Michael Rianda has constructed a really lovely story at the heart of this film that almost gets buried under so much padded story and technical wizardry that the story gets away from him a bit, making the movie about 25 minutes longer than it needs to be. The simple story of how humans and technology are dependent on each other almost gets strangled among the cinematic wizardry utilized to bring the story to the screen.
What I loved about this film is the artistry and authenticity that went into a lot of the animated set pieces in the story. I'm always fascinated seeing things in animated form that I have never seen in animated form before. Look at the detail that went into the billboards, an ice machine, the Wizard of Globe mall, Katie's notebook with her plans in it, and the Dino Pit Stop. The detail is so remarkable that it's easy to overlook. Also loved the fact that the heart of this movie is the relationship between Katie and her dad.
In addition to the voice cast already referenced, mention should also be made of John Legend and his wife Chrissy Tiegen as the family's neighbors and the fact that the dog Monchi is actually voiced by a dog. It's longer than it needs to be, but there's solid entertainment and artistry here.