Composer:
Mark MothersbaughCast:
Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Michael Rianda, Eric André, Olivia Colman, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
A quirky, dysfunctional family's road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity’s unlikeliest last hope! (Netflix)
Reviews (9)
Some ideas used in this movie work really well. For example, the messages they were sending out about family values and the generation gap between the progressive and creative zoomer daughter and her boomer father. This was pretty cool. I even got a bit emotional, however, there were other things that were not my cup of tea. The whole robot apocalypse thing felt kind of naive, childish, and stupid. At one point I even expected Jaroslav Uhlir to start singing his song about not abandoning old things for new ones... In truth, I found most of the jokes landed flat. I can handle and enjoy a lot of crazy stuff, however, this just seemed mostly stupid rather than funny and even the dog could not save it. Maybe it is because "I am really too old for this shit", and so when I see, for example, jokes based on filters you get on smartphones, I feel like banging my head against the wall, not like laughing. I thought more than half of the movie was filled with childish and boring jokes, so that is why I did not enjoy most of it. I thought the movie worked best when dealing with deeper issues, however, it was weak when it was more superficial (wannabe funny). I felt like if I wanted to watch a road-trip movie, I would rather watch another movie from National Lampoon's series instead of this. On the other hand, I do appreciate the creative use of animation and I liked the different effects they used (raptors, rainbows, etc.) as they made the movie visually more interesting than just an ordinary animated movie. That being said, this was not really my kind of movie, because I have a completely different sense of humor, and no matter what, I am definitely not awarding more than 5/10 for this.
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Maybe I was looking forward to it a little too much. The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a very fine animated film that, at least in terms of visual ideas, manages to offer much more than what we are used to, and maybe even more than what the best in the business serve up. It also has likeable characters, effective jokes and very good action. It's just that the underlying story is too ordinary and predictable, whether in the "dad looking for a way to his daughter and daughter looking for a way to her dad" or "technology has gone haywire and wants to take over humanity" sense. It's nothing that outright ruined the experience of the film for me, but on the other hand the technical creativity, inventiveness and fun factor often just accentuate the banality and ordinariness of the plot. Granted, they do manage to sell even that with grace, but I still expected a bit more.
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The Griswolds in furiously over-the-top "Miller-esque" playful animation. To its detriment, it doesn't know when to quit, but the dog and a duo of defective robots keep it reliably afloat even in its weakest moments, which aren’t that many actually.
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I loved every freakin' second of it... Movie of the year! The animated film of the decade! The best Netflix film! Instant cult-classic and masterpiece! Afterwards, I almost had to go to surgery to fix my jaw. Unbelievable experience. The film focuses on a wacky, crazy and likeable family who, in the middle of the robot apocalypse, is on a family trip while people are being abducted and the world is slowly ending. An excellent and original concept of the beginning of the apocalypse involving electric appliances going crazy. Throughout the film, the dog naturally steals the spotlight, but the father is also excellent, being a proper handyman and a real man (many men in their forties will see themselves in him), and, of course, the two malfunctioning robots as additions to the group add even more to the show. The son and daughter are also decent, but they lag behind the others a bit, and the mom, she turns into a regular assassin at the end, earning respect! It has a beautiful comic book stylization, great music, a hefty dose of pop-culture references, as well as references to technology, family, American society, and much more. The action itself is also good (the battle in the shopping center with alive electrical appliances has an almost horror atmosphere!!) and the grand finale is, of course, amazing. The biggest advantage is undoubtedly the humor, which is served to such an extent that I can't remember a movie in which I laughed non-stop without breaks. A tremendous explosion, where I was disappointed it was already over and I wanted even more. I want a sequel, prequel, spin-off, anything right away! More screenings are necessary, there is a lot of humor and details in the background, and it's impossible to absorb everything on the first go, there's really a lot. Powerful, touching, incredibly funny, playful, creative, intelligent, captivating, thrilling, and breathtaking. Yes, that's the Mitchells! And I enthusiastically recommend them to absolutely everyone. 10/10.
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In terms of the screenplay, The Mitchells vs. The Machines is not in any way innovative, as it merely remains solidly functional within its predictable narrative. However, the film’s main strengths consist in its visual aspect and how it solves or rather overcomes the essential problems of computer animation. The animation moves between the two poles of (hyper-)realism and abstraction. The best animators are able to combine realism and stylisation into a functional whole in their work. For example, Chuck Jones’s masterful grotesques violate the laws of physics, but they concurrently make essential use of physicality and physical logic in everything from the fall of an anvil to the smallest gestures of the characters. Jones created characters that were simultaneously complete and cohesive, but also tremendously flexible and chaotic because the medium of classic animation allowed him to do that. With the rise and dominance of computer animation, which works with virtual models or, better said, puppets with a solid skeleton, the work process has become faster and more efficient, but it has also lost its expressiveness. At least that applies to mainstream animated feature films, where the main trends were set by the pioneering Pixar, whose aim was to achieve maximum photorealism. In parallel with its milestones in this respect, Sony Animation conversely (alongside profitable franchises) sought ways to come up with something new in the context of the technology used by everyone, and mainly to bring stylisation and non-realism back to computer animation. The Mitchells vs. The Machines follows in the footsteps of not only the revolutionary revelation Spider-Man: Parallel Worlds, but also of its more obscure but developmentally essential predecessors – the cartoon-stylised 3D animated movies Hotel Transylvania and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, as well as the studio's first experiment, the animated found-footage flick Surf’s Up. Though Parallel Worlds was extraordinarily delightful in comparison with the animated feature films of the time, it remained bound by the aesthetics and expressive devices of comic books. In The Mitchells vs. The Machines, such boundaries fall away and an even bolder style comes forth, which this time openly refers to online creative work, not only on YouTube, but mainly on newer platforms like Instagram and TikTok with built-in creative and expressive tools. It is obvious from the project that the age of its creative team ranges from 40-somethings to the recent art-school graduates who populate the animation, storyboard and visual design departments. If we use references to describe the result, we see the expressive colourfulness of Speed Racer, the lighting design of Tron: Legacy and the madcap physical expressiveness and meta-genre self-reflective playfulness of The Amazing World of Gumball, all covered with a layer of stickers, emojis and memes from the aforementioned social networks. Unlike other films that attempt to somehow incorporate into themselves the internet’s characteristic means of expression, here the filmmakers rarely use existing resources and conversely come up with their own emojis in the form of distinctive doodles. Beyond that, they set the goal that 3D animation should look like painted reference images with their characteristic colouring and painted shading. The feature film Klaus had already gone a long way in this direction, but here a completely different and much more sophisticated technology of painted shading and dynamic edge lines is employed. All of this serves to reinforce the impression of “cartoonishness”, which also unties the animators’ hands in terms of the wildness that they can allow themselves in the creative preparation of individual action, melodramatic and comic moments. Some viewers who are used to the nonsensical pseudo-realism of animated blockbusters will be irritated by The Mitchells vs. The Machines due to its schizophrenia in the constant frenetic switching between seriousness and cartoonish boisterousness, dynamic physicality and absolute mockery of physics, as well as the blending of dramatic pathos with unbridled imagination. Others, however, will love the film thanks to the fact that it breaks down the monolithic style of animated blockbusters and brings back wackiness and creativity that is finally unhindred by technology.
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Rianda and Rowe didn’t want to wait for an adaptation of "Robocalypse" and so they put together this cartoon brimming with invention about a technological bugaboo gone wrong and father and a daughter trying to understand each other. All thanks to Miller and Lord and their humor shines to every direction from the screen. The visuals mix two and three-dimensional animation, Tron-style neon lights and a dog with googly eyes who reminds me more of a pig or a loaf of bread. Great family dynamics, a very nice message.
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A perfect animated film. Furiously funny, but at the same time still about something, not just about that fury. The 3D animation playfully combined with 2D looks beautiful, and if you remember The Incredibles in a few of the moments, you won’t be able to accuse the creators of copying, but will rather give them the best possible praise. And let's not forget the amazing dubbing by Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Olivia Colman and others. It never occurred to me that the film lasted almost two hours (like almost everything today).
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A terminator-like machine uprise in the Mitchell style, with a (much) lower rating, but a bigger portion of fun. The Mitchells vs. the Machines, like Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, captivates and impresses with its unorthodox animation style that mixes live-action sequences and various animation formats. The basic structure of the story of saving the world is nothing new, but the imaginative use of animation, as well as the way the narrative unfolds, lifts the film out of its first-rate mediocrity. Although I had an idea (and knew) how it would end, I was still entertained and moved by the story of an extremely wacky family brought together by the technological apocalypse. What made me laugh the most was Monchi's "piggy bank" and the father's confrontation with the internet. A weaker four stars!
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I was really looking forward to this animated film, given that it’s produced by the same team behind the nearly flawless Spider-Man from three years ago. I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed—far from it—but there were a few things missing for it to be a perfect experience. I must definitely commend the audiovisual style; it’s truly outstanding, and I have no complaints about the technical execution. I also grew fond of the characters, with the father being my favorite. On the other hand, their dog had its moments too, appearing in some of the funniest scenes... so it’s a tough choice :D . However, the story didn’t captivate me as much. The creators occasionally drop a cleverly crafted line, and there are laughs to be had, but I wasn’t particularly thrilled by the plot revolving around a robot apocalypse. Nevertheless, it’s still an above-average film, and I can easily imagine your kids being thrilled by it. For me, it’s a solid 7/10.
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