The Mitchells vs the Machines film review

Directed by: Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe

Written by: Michael Rianda, Jeff Rowe, Alex Hirsch

Starring: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Michael Rianda

Score: 8/10

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Perhaps one of the biggest surprise hits of the year (so far), Sony Pictures Animation’s The Mitchells vs the Machines swooped in, seemingly from nowhere, and took Netflix by storm. The super sweet but bitingly clever animated film follows Katie Mitchell (a solid lead performance from Abbi Jacobson) as she prepares to leave home for film school, just as computer AI, PAL (Olivia Coleman), instigates a robot apocalypse after being callously discarded by her tech giant creator, Mark Bowman (Eric André).

So, this is pretty standard, at least where its narrative is concerned: a typically dysfunctional suburban family learns to work together and appreciate each other’s differences through struggle and hardships—that kind of stuff. We’ve seen it before hundreds of times, and, honestly, it’s this unoriginality and general reluctance to take risks that holds the movie back from being truly exceptional - up there with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie.

Unsurprisingly, technology is a major underlying theme here: it plays a big part in both humanity’s downfall and redemption, and the writers succeed in hilariously parodying the pros and cons of our increasing reliance on devices and the effect they have on our lives. The tone struck here is just right: the perfect balance of bright and colourful, family-friendly light-heartedness and sharp, incisive and intellectual acuity radiates throughout Rianda, Rowe and Hirsch’s writing, ensuring there are pop-culture references galore and plenty here for both children and adults to enjoy.

The same could be said of the characters: the nature-loving, all-American dad Rick (Danny McBride), who regularly butts heads with his daughter as he doesn’t approve of her love of technology and career path; the dinosaur-obsessed younger brother (Michael Rianda); and the overstretched and worried mother/wife (Maya Rudolph) who spends most her time refereeing their spats. But the actors’ superb performances and how they bring the characters to life places The Mitchells vs the Machines firmly ahead of its competition. Danny McBride and Abbi Jacobson steal the show as the battling father and daughter (a relationship dynamic I know all too well!), and Olivia Coleman delights as the frustrated AI Pal who simply “can’t even” with humanity. We could talk about individual performances and why they’re great all day long. Still, really, the important thing is the film’s full of memorable, interesting and well-written characters that are sure to resonate with viewers.

Sony Pictures Animation’s distinctive animation style is an incredible asset to the company: beautiful and unique, it borrows many of the same techniques (including the use of the “Kirby Krackle”, motion lines and onomatopoeia) created for, and used in, their seminal piece, Into the Spider-Verse. As a result, comic-book inflexions run throughout; the action set pieces are stunningly rendered and shot, with gorgeous lighting and framing, and the characters are brought to life in all their quirky charm and splendour.

The Mitchell’s vs the Machines is one of those films that could have very easily fallen by the wayside; soulless exploitation of Sony Pictures Animation’s earlier successes; and with it being a direct-to-Netflix film, many thought it would be. Thankfully, that’s not the case. And, while I felt it didn’t quite reach its full potential, there’s no denying this is one of the finest animated films of the year, another smash hit from the humans that brought us Into the Spider-Verse and The Lego Movie, and a terrific catch for Netflix.

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