REVIEW The Mitchells vs. the Machines
The latest Sony Pictures Animation film is a delightful family adventures filled with humor, heart, madness and ambition.
The one true downside of The Mitchells vs. the Machines (also known as Connected at one stage of its production cycle, which was marked by delays due to the pandemic) is that, as a Netflix exclusive, audiences will, for the most part, be unable to see it on a big screen. Which is a shame because, in purely visual terms, it’s arguably the most spectacular piece of US studio animation since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Unsurprisingly, Phil Lord and Chris Miller served as producers on both projects.
The titular Mitchells are a fairly normal American family, although eldest daughter Katie (Abbi Jacobson) can’t wait to take a break from it all and start college. Sensing quality time is coming to an end, her father Rick (Danny McBride) decides to take everyone along for a road trip. Katie is far from thrilled, and frequently butts heads with everyone else, but they will soon have to set their differences aside, as they find themselves in the middle of a robot apocalypse.
It’s National Lampoon’s Vacation by way of Avengers: Age of Ultron (the always delightful Olivia Colman is on villain duty as an artificial intelligence gone rogue), and it’s every bit as deliciously insane as it sounds: the gags hit with a breakneck pace, going hand in hand with polished action beats and flourishes of visual inventiveness ranging from hand-drawn interludes to live action YouTube footage (a large chunk of the narrative is about our excessive reliance on technology and, hilariously, Rick’s inability to do anything more complicated than dialing a phone number).
Much like with Spider-Verse, Lord and Miller have used their clout as producers to allow the directors, Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe, to go as crazy as possible, while never losing track of the film’s emotional core: this is, at its essence, a family story, with many relatable moments even as the Mitchells have to deal with a wide array of robots (voiced primarily by Beck Bennet, with Fred Armisen and Conan O’Brien, among others, on supporting duty).
The film adheres to Sony Pictures Animation’s mission statement of not really having a house style, which is why it’s simultaneously the least distinctive and most interesting US-based animation studio (for reference, their last release prior to this one was The Angry Birds Movie 2). It’s fresh, it’s fun, and it boasts a willingness to push the envelope that is virtually unheard of when it comes to the major competitors.
And while the visual delights are slightly diminished on a smaller screen, the heart and humor remain intact, particularly the antics of the scene-stealing Monchi, the Mitchells’ pet dog. Every single shot he appears in is a source of joy, an achievement made even more remarkable by the fact that, rather than asking Frank Welker or Dee Bradley Baker to do their thing, the filmmakers obtained the vocals via recordings of an actual dog, identified in the credits as Doug the Pug. It’s the kind of attention to detail you’re unlikely to find anywhere else, and one of the key ingredients of a marvelous, family-sized adventure suitable for all ages.
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (USA 2021, 113 minutes)
Directors: Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe
Writers: Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe
Producers: Kurt Albrecht, Will Allegra, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Cast: Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Olivia Colman, Beck Bennett, Fred Armisen
Distributor: Netflix (streaming)