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Tom & Jerry the Movie Review
Updated: Feb 27, 2021
The cat and mouse make it on the big screen!
For more than 40 years Tom & Jerry have been the stable of slapstick cartoon comedy with insane antics and fun musical moments. My favorite still and will always be when Tom sang "is you is or is you ain't my babe!". This film stays true to what the characters have been for decades while also integrating a live-action action story behind it. It's not often we see a live-action 2D animation film like we so often did in the Golden Days of Hollywood. For example, the iconic Mary Poppins, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and one of my personal favorites Cool World (recommended watch). Tom & Jerry, along with the other animals that have been animated in this world look beautiful and move fluidly throughout the film interacting with the world smoothly.
The movie also features voices from the legendary William Hanna, of Hanna Barbera fame, and Mel Blanc, the original voice of the likes of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
The animators base the animation on a stylized 3D/CGI VFX modeling medium through a vintage 2D finish by creating innovative rigging, animation techniques used to create 2D animation, and custom tools such as lighting and rendering, resulting in the film's 3D/CGI animation maintaining the look, feel, and spirit of 2D animation, in the veins of the original classic shorts in the 1940s and 1950s. The animators also used early Tom and Jerry shorts as reference and inspiration for the animation sequences.
Although it was an enjoyable movie and I did have a good laugh in many moments of the film when it came to the human aspect of the story it felt as though some of the moments of the dialogue were weird or trying to be funny. Granted I understand that to do an entire movie with Tom and Jerry, characters that interact non-verbally would have been challenging but this was not too much of a problem. Tom is still the cat that does what he can to catch the mouse to help make it in the big city to fulfill his own goals and Jerry the slick, witty, little rascal that just wanted to find a new home. Now and then you would hear Tom scream reminded you of the times of old when he would shout from pain, classic.
Chloe Grace Mortez character was a total goofball and Mortez herself said that her character, "was a girl who gunned for what she wanted to achieve but realizes that time and honesty is what will prevail in the end,” Which eventually did happen towards the end and she managed to save the day with the dynamic comedic duo. I'm not used to seeing her in this type of role but it was a nice change of pace. I did enjoy her interaction with both characters she managed to keep them somewhat from destroying each other. One could imagine how she felt doing this improv acting with no one in front of her to interact with as large as Tom or as small as Jerry but she and the other actors did well.
In conclusion Tom & Jerry the Movie gets a pass on the recommended watch list. Though the movie felt like it focused a bit too much on the human aspect of it what manages to still make this film shine is classic slapstick Tom and Jerry.
What are your thoughts on the movie?
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