Cruella review

CRUELLA:

EMMA STONE IS DELIGHTFULLY WICKED AS DISNEY’S MOST FASHIONABLE VILLAIN! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

DISNEY

Emma Stone unleashes her inner “De Vil” in Cruella

 

            Emma Stone (Easy A, La La Land, The Favourite) brings Disney’s most stylish villain to life in Cruella, the latest in Disney’s trend of taking their iconic animated villains and making them into sympathetic characters much like what they did with Maleficent. So, I guess it makes sense to do one on the infamous puppy killer and coat maker from 101 Dalmatians. 

            This marks the third time Cruella de Vil appeared in live-action movie form with the previous two being Disney’s 1996 remake of their animated film which starred Glenn Close as Cruella and its sequel, 102 Dalmatians in 2000. I remembered liking the original animated version of 101 Dalmatians enough though it wasn’t one of the Disneymovies I watched over and over as a kid and the live-action version I think is perfectly decent and cute with the highlight being Close’s manic performance as Cruella de Vil who is an absolute riot whenever she was onscreen and, in my opinion, the only reason to see the two live-action films. 

            Now, we have this prequel/origin story of Cruella starring Stone, directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night (2011), I, Tonya), and coincidentally produced by the earlier Cruella de Vil herself, Glenn Close showing how she became the maniacal fashion designer we know, hate, and also love at the same time. The film was announced all the way back in 2016 and I remembered hearing of Emma Stone’s casting as the character and was initially a little skeptical. 

            Don’t get me wrong, Emma Stone is a brilliant actress, but I wasn’t sure if she’d be capable of portraying such a wicked, cold-hearted character…and keep in mind, this was a couple of years before she played Abigail in The Favourite. I had completely forgotten this film was coming out until fairly recently when a photo of Stone as Cruella was released online, and the trailer premiered, and I was very interested in what I was seeing. 

            It wasn’t going to be another remake of 101 Dalmatians (Thank Christ! You can remake A Star is Born as many times as you want but we don’t need a bunch of remakes of this!), it would be darker in tone compared to the previous 101 Dalmatians movies even earning a PG-13 rating, and it was going to explore what made Cruella into the villain we know today. 

            Well, now that I’ve watched it, I can say that I had a really good time with this movie and one of the better Disney live-action films to come out of recent years outside of Marvel and Star Wars. It isn’t perfect nor does it really need to exist, but for what it is, it’s a consistently entertaining movie with impressive visuals, production design, and especially costumes, an interesting plot that’s dark and mean spirited in all the right ways, a damn amazing soundtrack mostly consisting of 60s and 70s tunes that I want to get, and a tour de force performance by Emma Stone and an equally entertaining performance by Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Men in Black 3/Men in Black: International, Saving Mr. Banks) as Cruella’s inevitable rival. 

            Set in 1970s London during the punk revolution, the film follows a young grifter named Estella (Stone), a woman who aspires to become a fashion designer and make a name for herself and her designs. Estella is very creative and clever with her fashion designs which catch the eye of Baroness von Hellman (Thompson), the narcissistic head of a prestigious London fashion house and renowned designer who employs Estella to work for her.

            However, through a series of events and revelations, Estella embraces her wicked side and becomes the fashionable yet revenge-bent Cruella de Vil. 

            The film also stars Joel Fry (White Van Man, Game of Thrones, Yesterday) as Jasper, Paul Walter Hauser (I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman, Richard Jewell) as Horace, Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later, Hail, Caesar!, Daphne) as Catherine Miller, Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place, Veronica Mars, Infinity Train) as Anita Darling, Mark Strong (Kick-Ass, Kingsman 1 and 2, Shazam!) as John, John McCrea (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, God’s Own Country, Dracula (2020 TV series)) as Artie, Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker, Four Lions, What We Do in the Shadows) as Roger Dearly, and Jamie Demetriou (Drunk History, Fleabag, Paddington 2) as Gerald. 

            Overall, Cruella may not be the coat for many Disney purists, but for those looking for a darker and more different variation of this well-known character, it gets the job done. The best way I can describe it is like a mix between Joker, The Devil Wears Prada, and Ocean’s 8, the dynamic between Stone and Thompson’s characters is very reminiscent to that of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada, Estella’s descent into madness is just like what happens to Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, and a pivotal part of the story is to steal a necklace similar to the heist from Ocean’s 8, I’m not sure if the filmmakers were inspired by those movies but I wouldn’t be surprised. 

            Emma Stone and Emma Thompson’s performances are the highlight of this movie, Stone as the aspiring fashion designer and Thompson as this narcissistic fashion house owner (Granted, Thompson has portrayed cynical characters before, but here it’s almost to the point where she’s echoing Glenn Close’s Cruella de Vil). The banter between the two is brilliant, just listening to Stone and Thompson talk and throw insults and comebacks to one another is ironically more entertaining than any of the action scenes, which are good as well. 

            For the most part, the plot is very engaging, and I was getting wrapped up into what was going on and how Estella becomes Cruella. I will say, it starts to kind of fall apart during its third act where a twist or two occurs that doesn’t need to be in the movie and take the Maleficent route and make Cruella into more of an anti-hero rather than a legit villain, it didn’t bother me too much because I already loved a large chunk of this movie, it isn’t like Spiral where the movie stops abruptly and there isn’t much of a climax or payoff, there is a climax that wraps everything up but I just wished it ended about 30 minutes earlier. 

            Much like the previous live-action 101 Dalmatians films, the costume designs are fantastic in this movie, and I really appreciate how creative the designers got when making these outfits for both Cruella and the Baroness. They’re so good that I’m going to be very angry if this movie doesn’t get at least nominated for a Best Costume Design Oscar next year. 

            Cruella is a Disney remake/re-imagining done right and offers a dark, moody, and delightfully mean-spirited take on this iconic Disney character that’s definitely worth checking out because if she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will. 

A Quiet Place: Part II review

A QUIET PLACE: PART II: 

HORROR SEQUEL DELIVERS PLENTY OF SCARES! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place: Part II

 

            Those sound-hunting monsters are back for more terror in A Quiet Place: Part II, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2018 horror smash hit directed by and starring Jim from The Office himself, John Krasinski (The Office, Leatherheads, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi) alongside his real-life wife, Emily Blunt (Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, Sicario). The first film was a very pleasant surprise and one of the most unique and spine-tingling horror films I’ve seen in recent years.

            I remembered seeing the trailer for the first movie and was very interested by it at first until I saw that it was being produced by Michael Bay (Bad Boys 1 and 2, The Rock, Transformers franchise) under his Platinum Dunesstudio and I started to get skeptical because Bay and Platinum Dunes’ track records especially when it comes to financing and producing horror movies haven’t been all that hot with some exceptions like 2016’s Ouija: Origin of Evil. 

            However, my doubts were quickly pushed aside upon seeing the film and I ended up really enjoying the first movie. I got wrapped up in the story and characters and indulged in the chilling suspense and terror around every corner…and with very little dialogue to boot, it truly was a horror movie that exceeded all expectations and broke the mold. 

            So, naturally due to its huge critical and commercial success, a sequel was quickly greenlit with Krasinski returning to direct and Blunt reprising her role as Evelyn. I was slightly hesitant when it was first announced because I thought the first film ended on a strong note that tied pretty much all the loose strings together and felt very self-contained.

            Nevertheless, I was still interested in seeing how they would continue the story and if it would be a worthy successor to the previous film. It’s been quite a wait not going to lie, the film was originally scheduled to be released last year in 2020 and even had its world premiere that year but its wide release was pushed back over a year later due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

            Now that it’s finally been released, is A Quiet Place: Part II the horror sequel we’ve been waiting for? Honestly, yes. It doesn’t do much new this time around, but it does an ample job at expanding the world of this franchise and continuing the story serving more as a direct continuation to its predecessor literally starting immediately after where the first film ended, and with plenty of bone-chilling terror and Blunt giving a million percent as always. 

            The film follows Evelyn Abbott (Blunt) and her children, Regan (Millicent Simmonds-Wonderstruck, Andi Mack, This Close) and Marcus (Noah Jupe-Wonder, Ford v. Ferrari, Honey Boy) as well as Evelyn’s newborn baby continuing their fight for survival against the blind monsters with enhanced hearing. They soon stumble across Emmett (Cillian Murphy-Batman Begins, Red Eye, Sunshine), an old friend of their deceased father, Lee (Krasinski) who takes them into his bunker for protection from the monsters. Knowing what the monsters’ weakness is (Transmitting Regan’s cochlear implant hearing aid’s noise through a microphone and radio) and discovering a radio signal playing Beyond the Sea on a loop, Regan ventures out on her own to find the radio tower and transmit the high-frequency noise her hearing aid makes to hopefully destroy these monsters once and for all. 

            The film also stars Djimon Hounsou (Amistad, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shazam!), Scott McNairy (Argo, Gone Girl, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), and Okieriete Onaodowan (Hamilton, Grey’s Anatomy, Person to Person). 

            Overall, A Quiet Place: Part II offers a worthy successor to the first film even if it doesn’t quite have its creative spark. There are some legitimately nerve-wracking scenes in this film and very often these suspenseful moments slowly build tension before the inevitable scare, for the most part they’re very effective scares that feel warranted and aren’t just an overabundance of cheap jump scares and excessive gore (Though, there is a handful of jump scares in this film!). 

            Much like the first film, sound is a pivotal part of this movie and it’s used extremely well especially with the deaf girl where the sound fades out and her moments are practically silent. It finds very clever and unique ways to integrate sound into the story after all, this is supposed to be a world where if you make even the tiniest sound, it could result in your inevitable demise. 

            Even though it hits a lot of familiar grounds as its predecessor, not once does it feel like a rehash of the first film. The best way I can describe is like the Quiet Place/horror movie equivalent of The Two Towers where it’s a small piece of one larger story that expands on its world and characters, I especially liked how the deaf girl was given a more prominent role this time and she is arguably the main character of this movie instead of Emily Blunt, she’s off doing her thing while her mother and brother protect themselves and the baby from the monsters. 

            The film also ends in a similar fashion to the first movie and while I’m not always the biggest fan of abrupt endings in horror movies (Spiral!), this one doesn’t feel forced and I’m assuming it’s set-up for a possible third movie which I must say I’d be down to see. 

            A Quiet Place: Part II offers more of what made the original so engaging and bone-chilling while also expanding upon its world and characters with great effect. If you’re a fan of the first film then you’ll probably love A Quiet Place: Part II, just don’t make a sound in the theater, you’ve been warned!  

Spiral review

SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW: 

CHRIS ROCK AND SAMUEL L. JACKSON GIVE THE LONG-RUNNING SAW FRANCHISE SOME FRESH “BLOOD”, UNFORTUNATELY IT FALLS APART DURING ITS FINAL ACT! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** ½ out of 4

LIONSGATE

Chris Rock in Spiral: From the Book of Saw

 

            The long-running Saw franchise that made torture-porn into a profitable business has been reborn in Spiral: From the Book of Saw or simply Spiral, the ninth installment of the series and a spin-off of the original films which follows a cop trying to solve a series of murders related to the Jigsaw Killer. Before I dive into this film, let me make one thing perfectly clear, I am NOT a Saw fan. 

            Let me rephrase that, I am not a fan of the Saw franchise, I do consider the first film released in 2004 to be a very effective scary movie and all the gory death traps were balanced out with suspense and interesting characters. However, with sequel after sequel, the Saw franchise shifted focus on exploiting the torture-porn aspect where the death traps and gore became the stars of the movie rather than its cast and each sequel was just more of the same with little variety, not to mention very few characters to grow attached to. 

            I think that’s my biggest problem with this series, too much focus on gore and shock value and not enough characters to be emotionally invested in. With that said, the traps and deaths can be very imaginative, and I completely understand why fans of the series enjoy it, I just like a little more substance in my scary movies. 

            Sometime later, I started to express interest in some of the later Saw films after the release of 2017’s Jigsaw and especially when Spiral was announced. Both Jigsaw and Spiral seemed like movies that could give some fresh blood to this very repetitive franchise and Spiral in particular, sounded interesting just by the concept alone.

            A murder-mystery crime-drama that’s closer in spirit to Se7en but is set in the Saw universe and stars Chris Rock (Lethal Weapon 4, The Longest Yard (2005), Top Five), who also produces it and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Snakes on a Plane, Marvel Cinematic Universe). Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, and Saw…okay, you got my attention! 

            I had to know what Rock and Jackson were going to do with the Saw franchise and hopefully like Jigsaw it would breathe new life into the series. For the most part, it does…but it kind of falls apart during its final act as well. 

            The film has enough spine-tingling suspense and plenty of the hyper-grisly death traps the franchise is known for as well as strong performances by Rock and Jackson. However, quite often the editing and pacing feel extremely rushed and needed more time to breathe and focus more on Rock and Jackson’s characters’ relationship, also I found the climax to be very underwhelming. 

            The film follows Detective Ezekiel “Zeke” Banks (Rock), a cop tasked with solving a series of murders caused by a Jigsaw copycat. However, it seems that this Jigsaw Killer’s murders are following a strange pattern, he/she’s been killing a bunch of corrupt policemen which forces Zeke to partner up with his estranged father Marcus Banks (Jackson) to solve this horrific case and bring the new Jigsaw Killer down. 

            The film also stars Max Minghella (Art School Confidential, The Social Network, The Handmaid’s Tale) as Det. William Schenk, Marisol Nichols (Scream 2, 24, Riverdale) as Capt. Angie Garza, Zoie Palmer (The Guard, Lost Girl, Dark Matter) as Kara Boswick, Genelle Williams (Radio Free Roscoe, The Latest Buzz, Warehouse 13) as Lisa Banks, and Dan Petronijevic (Murdoch Mysteries, Falling Skies, Cardinal) as Det. Marv Boswick. 

            Overall, Spiral is very interesting installment of the Saw franchise and does have more substance and stronger character development than most of its predecessors with plenty of that Saw-style slaughtering the series is known for as well as Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson giving 1 million percent whenever they’re onscreen. However, it often feels very rushed in the editing and pacing as if they shot a bunch of important scenes but were left on the cutting room floor just to make the 90-minute mark and it doesn’t really give us much time to breathe or establish Rock and Jackson’s characters fully, had this film been longer I think it would have improved things a lot. 

            The traps and death scenes are nice and inventive…also bloody as is the case with every Saw movie, but unlike most of the previous films they aren’t the focus, nor do they overshadow the main characters. This is exactly why the first film and Jigsaw work for me, the traps are there but they do a much better job at developing the characters who are stuck in the traps and make you care about them thus making it more satisfying when one of them successfully completes one and more shocking when one of them dies, it isn’t just stock characters getting tortured and killed and the same logic applies to this film. 

            For the most part, I was invested in Spiral and enjoyed getting wrapped in the mystery but by the end I was quite disappointed. The final act is so overwhelmingly anticlimactic that it almost broke the movie for me. 

            Okay, the Saw movies are known for having a twist ending where the famous theme music plays before the credits roll usually involving the main character getting trapped forever or a shocking reveal of who the actual Jigsaw Killer is. Here, the movie sets you up for a big climax as the Saw music plays but then it just stops and the credits roll, this was such a slap in the face and a giant F.U. that it makes the endings of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom or Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker look like Avengers: Endgame, I’m dead serious. 

            Spiral: From the Book of Saw is exactly what the word “Fine” is meant for and is easily the third best Sawmovie after the first one and Jigsaw. It’s nice to see something even remotely refreshing and new in a long-running franchise that has run out of steam, but the sloppy editing and anticlimactic ending kind of ruin what could have been an ingenious entry in the Saw franchise. 

            Longtime Saw fans will likely enjoy it and nothing about this review screams “Don’t go see it!”. If you’re a fan of the series or even the least bit curious to watch it then by all means, give Spiral a watch, but for me I’ll just stick with doing a double feature of Saw and Se7en because those movies at least knew how to take their time while trying to scare you. 

Wrath of Man review

WRATH OF MAN: 

RITCHIE AND STATHAM’S FOURTH COLLABORATION IS A TENSE AND GRITTY GOOD TIME! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

MGM AND MIRAMAX

Jason Statham in Wrath of Man

 

Action superstar, Jason Statham (The Transporter trilogy, Crank 1 and 2, Fast & Furious franchise) reunites with director, Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, The Gentlemen) for the fourth time in Wrath of Man, the new action-thriller based on the 2004 French film, Cash Truck which was directed by Nicolas Boukrief. I’ve never seen the original Cash Truck movie, so I have no idea how faithful it is to that film, but as a Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham fan, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. 

It isn’t Guy Ritchie’s best work nor is it Jason Statham’s best work, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s just a very well-crafted, tense, and exhilarating action movie that isn’t afraid to get its hands dirty when necessary, but with a charismatic Jason Statham performance at the center of it. 

The film follows H (Statham), a man who is recently hired as an armored truck driver tasked to move hundreds of millions of dollars across the streets of Los Angeles. But, when his truck gets held at gunpoint during one of his jobs, H manages to take down a group of robbers with a particular set of advanced combat skills unbeknownst to everyone. 

It turns out H is hunting down the people who murdered his son during a similar robbery and is now out for blood by using his new position to set traps for every would-be robber in the city until he finds his son’s killers and takes them out. 

The film also stars Holt McCallany (Three Kings, Fight Club, Mindhunter) as Bullet, Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice, Changeling, Fargo (TV series)) as Jackson, Josh Hartnett (Halloween H20, The Faculty, The Black Dahlia) as Boy Sweat Dave, Laz Alonso (Fast & Furious, Avatar, The Boys) as Carlos, Raúl Castillo (Looking, Unsane, Army of the Dead) as Sam, DeObia Oparei (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Dumbo (2019), Jumanji: The Next Level) as Brad, Eddie Marsan (V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, The World’s End) as Terry, Scott Eastwood (Gran Torino, Fury, The Fate of the Furious) as Jan, and Niamh Algar (Without Name, Calm with Horses, Censor) as Dana. 

Overall, Wrath of Man isn’t Ritchie or Statham’s strongest work, but it’s a gripping and exhilarating action film with plenty of Ritchie’s signature style and wit sprinkled in for good measure. The narrative sort of takes a non-linear approach that’s similar to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction where it is told out of order with sporadic time-jumps that tell different sides of the story and showing how they inevitably all come together by the end, while it can be an acquired taste for some it’s a very unique change of pace compared to the typical Jason Statham action movie fare. 

The action is very over-the-top and in your face that never goes soft, it’s the kind of hardcore and violent action Ritchie and Statham are best known for and to that, I have nothing to complain about. At times, the film gets dark in tone during certain scenes and accompanied with the musical score, some intense scenes often feel like they’re ripped from one of the drafts of Joker so maybe keep that somewhat in mind if you decide to go and see this. 

The humor when they happen is funny though I don’t think it’s nearly as funny as any of Ritchie’s other work. The quips and humorous writing are used very sparingly and at times there are a few scenes I felt could have used more Guy Ritchie-style humor, not quite on the same level as The Gentlemen or Sherlock Holmes but it’s fine enough and I did get a few laughs when they were done.

In my opinion, Wrath of Man is a perfect middle of the road Guy Ritchie movie where it’s not even close to being bad but it’s far from any of his greats. If you’re a fan of Guy Ritchie and/or Jason Statham then this film delivers, again not perfect but it’s action-packed and exhilarating enough. 

The Mitchells VS the Machines review

THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES: 

A DELIGHTFULLY ABSURD BUT ALSO VERY HEARTFELT ANIMATED ROAD TRIP THAT’S DEFINITELY WORTH GOING ON! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

NETFLIX, COLUMBIA PICTURES, AND SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

The Mitchell family road trip becomes a mission to save the world in The Mitchells VS the Machines

 

            A family road trip suddenly turns into a fight to save the entire human race from evil robots in The Mitchells VS the Machines, the latest film from Sony Pictures Animation and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) who had previously produced Sony’s Academy Award winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The film is directed by former Gravity Falls writer Mike Rianda and was originally intended as a theatrical release under the new title Connected, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic among other delays the film was given its original title back and dropped onto Netflix.

            Sony’s animated films have always been hit or miss to me and while there are a handful of films from them that I enjoyed (Surf’s Up, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania, The Angry Birds Movie 2), others (Smurfs, The Emoji Movie) not so much. It wasn’t until 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse when not only did I enjoy a Sony animated feature but loved every minute of it to the point where I saw it multiple times in theaters (I’ve never done this with any of the previous Sony animated movies) and declared not only one of my favorite animated features but one of my favorite films in general. 

            When The Mitchells VS the Machines/Connected was first announced and that Lord and Miller were going to produce it, I was very interested in seeing how it will turn out and the premise seemed completely ridiculous but also has a lot of potential behind it.

I was hoping they can bring the same amount of imagination, wit, and strong family drama from Into the Spider-Verse into this film. And boy, they delivered! 

While I don’t think this film is quite as strong as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I had a blast from beginning to end. This is a film that takes full advantage of its delightfully absurd premise and does everything you can with it, resulting in a howlingly funny and often touching animated adventure, think A Goofy Movie and the Plucky Duck segment of Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation meet Terminator 2. 

The film follows the dysfunctional Mitchell family consisting of aspiring filmmaker Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson-Broad City, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, The Lego Ninjago Movie), her father Rick (voiced by Danny McBride-Tropic Thunder, This is the End, The Angry Birds Movie 1 and 2), her mother Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph-Saturday Night Live, Sisters, Big Hero 6), and her dinosaur-obsessed younger brother Aaron (voiced by Rianda) who probably thought Jurassic Park was like the second coming of Jesus…and defended Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as a good movie! Oh, and the family’s pet dog Monchi. 

Anyway, Katie has been accepted to her dream college, but instead of flying there her father comes up with a brilliant idea, take a family road trip to her college as one last bonding experience, and hijinks and hilarity ensue. However, their road trip turns into a mission to save the world when they accidentally find themselves stuck in the middle of a robot uprising caused by the evil artificial intelligence known as PAL (voiced by Olivia Colman-The Favourite, The Crown, The Father) who brings the world’s electronic devices to life to destroy humanity. 

With only each other as well as two friendly and dim-witted robots humorously named Eric (voiced by Beck Bennett-Sing, The Angry Birds Movie 2, Bill & Ted Face the Music) and Deborahbot 5000 (voiced by Fred Armisen-Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, The Lego Ninjago Movie), the Mitchells must come together to save themselves and the entire world from the robot apocalypse. 

The film also features the voices of Eric Andre (The Eric Andre Show, Man Seeking Woman, The Lion King (2019) as Dr. Mark Bowman, Conan O’Brien (The Simpsons, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2, The Lego Batman Movie) as Glaxxon 5000, Charlyne Yi (Steven Universe, We Bare Bears, Summer Camp Island) as Abby Posey, Chrissy Teigen (FABLife, Lip Sync Battle, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation) as Hailey Posey, and John Legend (Soul Men, La La Land, Jingle Jangle) as Jim Posey.  

Overall, The Mitchells VS the Machines is a very funny and even touching adventure for the whole family and easily Sony’s second-best animated film after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It isn’t anything groundbreaking like Into the Spider-Verse, it’s just funny and most of the jokes hit bullseye and even the ones that don’t quite stick the landing, it doesn’t matter because they’re followed by a million other jokes that do land immediately afterwards, not only was I laughing but I was laughing hard at this film, these are such well-written and clever jokes that often did make me think back to Gravity Falls which makes perfect sense because it was directed by a former writer of that show. 

Besides being very funny, the film is also quite imaginative especially with the designs of the robots out to destroy the Mitchells. You got your traditional robots with sleek and simplistic designs that resemble modern technology and then you have an army of living appliances such as toasters, microwaves, washing machines, blenders, vending machines, and even evil Furby dolls that attack the Mitchell family in a shopping mall, you can just tell that the animators were having a field day with these designs and letting their imaginations run wild for our amusement. 

The film’s family dynamics are done superbly making them feel like a real family despite being animated characters. Anyone who’s ever been trapped on the family road trip from Hell can easily relate to something in this film whether it’s playing Apocalypse I-Spy, the family never shutting up, or making questionable pit stops, you get what Katie is going through while also learning to be more accepting of her family. 

The chemistry between Katie and Rick in particular is very strong and again feels like a real family, Katie is passionate in filmmaking and wants to leave her family and go to college so she can become a filmmaker while her father has no clue about Katie’s passion or goals and is practically against using modern technology (Which is often quite funny as the movie progresses), but he makes sure that Katie comes first in his life even if best efforts to keep their bond strong don’t always work out, it’s a very relatable topic and while they go on their literal journey, the family goes on spiritual and emotional journeys along the way as well. 

The Mitchells VS the Machines is a creative, funny, and heartfelt road trip that every family should go on. Zany action, witty jokes and visual humor, and a strong family moral, it’s got something for everyone.