Director: Tim Story
Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Duration: 101 minutes
Tom & Jerry (VOD) – Movie Review
Many of us grew up with the cartoons starring the iconic Tom & Jerry. The short animated stories often just showed us the mischievous endeavors of the cat and mouse, who were relentless in how they treated each other. We saw a lot of wacky cartoon violence, and truth be told, we loved these simpler days where good old-fashioned fun was still the norm. The cartoon went on to run for decades on end, only for it to fade to the background in the late 90s, keeping children entertained with nothing but reruns. After watching the new Tom & Jerry movie, which actually had a lot of bright ideas and nice animations, we are still going to stick with the old-school reruns.
In this 2021 rendition of Tom & Jerry, we see both icons end up in the Big Apple; New York City. We have no clue why, but they are there nonetheless. It doesn’t take long before Jerry encounters Tom trying to earn a few pennies by posing as a blind cat playing the piano. Instead of looking for his own way to earn money, he immediately tries to steal Tom’s thunder, and dance to his music, asking for some spare change as well. Because of this, Tom loses his composure, and they end up in a typical cartoon-esque argument, causing them to run into Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz), who was delivering clean laundry to one of her clients. Sadly, the furry duo crashes into her bike, and every piece of clothing is dirty once again. She loses her job because of this, but then steals someone else’s resume, landing a high-profile job at a prestigious hotel. Chaos ensues when Jerry illegally moves into the hotel, stealing small items from everyone, while Tom is still trying to catch him. As Kayle pretends to be a very experienced hotel worker, she is tasked to sort things out, especially because two famous clients are staying in the hotel for their glamorous wedding.
The flow is actually fairly pleasant, as the movie follows its storyline quite nicely, without delving too much into hectic situations, also allowing the (shallow) story to unfold. The overall concept is actually quite nice, it’s the execution that is found severely lacking. Don’t get us wrong, the animations are actually quite good, and they show that Tom & Jerry still have a spot in our modern society. It’s mainly the overall feeling of the movie, the lack of authentic gags, the shallow characters and the very unfitting soundtrack, that detracts from the quality of the movie. Even though the pacing feels okay, and the flow is typical for the genre, the actual content just feels bland and boring for the biggest part of the movie. For some reason, every character in this film comes across as a century-old stereotype or just downright unlikeable.
In terms of acting, we cannot say too much that is negative. The cast felt very suitable for the experience, but every single character felt extremely shallow. We understand that the movie is directed towards a younger audience, thus keeping things relatively simple. This would have made perfect sense, were it not for the issues between the couple that is going to get married in the hotel. This already shows some more complex issues, making it somewhat harder for children to grasp the actual nuances.
In terms of special features that would be nice for a physical release, it would perhaps be fun to have a bit of history of the Tom & Jerry franchise as a whole, and how the new animations were handled. Other than that, the story speaks for itself and doesn’t really need that much extra content.
Conclusion
Tom & Jerry has a few nice moments, and these are mainly when the duo mimics events from the actual old cartoons. The filler story that comes with their antics just feels off for most of the movie’s duration, and this is mainly due to very unlikable characters who star in the lead. Not only does the movie try to be overly ‘modern’, but it also uses the same type of music throughout the experience, which does not fit a movie such as this at all. We do have to commend the creators, as the animations are of top-shelf quality, but there’s little to like here if you grew up with the original adventures of the duo. Children may be amused by this movie, but even then, the original cartoons will probably provide them with more entertainment.
Tom & Jerry (VOD) - Movie Review,
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