Migration

Voices of: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Tresi Gazal, Caspar Jennings, Isabela Merced, Danny DeVito, Carol Kane, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, David Mitchell
Directed by: Benjamin Renner, Guylo Homsy
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
2023

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A family of ducks embark on a migration adventure, despite the misgivings of their overprotective father.

Review:

Tim:

I've long complained about the poor quality of Illumination movies. With The Super Mario Bros. Movie, they shocked me with its quality. Could 2023 be the turning point for the studio? Would the cute-looking Migration continue their path upwards? Alas, the answer is no. Migration is yet another subpar, lackluster animated film from one of the worst animation studios. There were things in place that suggested this could have been a good movie, but it fails in multiple regards.

I really liked the central premise- a family of ducks migrates south. Their father is nervous, overprotective, trying to shelter his family from real and imagined dangers. The rest of the family is more adventurous. This is a really cool concept, relatable to some I'm sure. You can see how it would immediately pit the family against each other and their different approaches would clash. Undoubtedly, all learn valuable lessons along the way. That's a successful film! Unfortunately, the script is almost nonsensical. Of all the adventures a family of traveling ducks could have, this is the one they chose? You have ambiguously frightening herons, you have a psychotic chef who has access to a helicopter. You have an inexplicable caged parrot who just wants to get home to where the ducks happen to want to go. You have a bird paradise with nefarious connections. I mean, the whole story is so slapped together, so random and stupid, and then attempted to tie back together. I was so ridiculously bored once the migration began. It feels like the duck family encounter a series of just bizarrely structured misadventures, none of which are especially memorable, none of which really seem to matter. I could feel myself forgetting the movie as I watched it. Illumination loves the concept of telling bad stories aimed at children, knowing they will force their parents to bring them to the theater. There's almost no sense of telling stories of depth, of plotting things out in a way that makes sense. I realize I forgot Awkwafina's whole stupid, pointless pigeon battle thing, too. My goodness, the whole thing reeks of being mid.

I admit Migration is never terrible. The visuals are solid and often impressive. The character design works and there's several landscape shots that are truly beautiful to behold. The quality of the animation is strong, that's definitely not one of the issues I had with the film. The idea of a family of ducks as the protagonists is a good one. I do wish there was more character development. The dad is overprotective. The mom is... adventurous I guess? The son wants adventure. He meets a girl duck at the beginning but then the movie never mentions her again until the end. It's almost like they forgot that subplot. The daughter duck is... also adventurous? Just younger? I mean, the writing is bland, the characters are dull. But, they're never terrible. My kids (9 and 5) both enjoyed the movie. They saw it in theaters and then watched it again with me. They liked it. I didn't, but I recognize it's at least average kids entertainment.

Kumail Nanjiani is solid in the lead role. I have no idea what his character's name is (I know none of them), but his voice work has just the right level of hysteria in it. He can shift to being strong and brave, also- he was ideal for bringing this character to life. I just wish he had a better script to support him. Elizabeth Banks is good, as always. Again, her character is dull, but it's not her fault, nor the result of her performance. I liked hearing Danny DeVito here- he always makes movies better. However, his character was unnecessary. It felt like he should have been left on the cutting room floor. He doesn't add much and takes up screen time. Awkwafina's voice is so memorable, it's always fun hearing her in films. Keegan-Michael Key does solid work, as you would expect. The voice cast as a whole is okay, but it definitely isn't one to get excited about. It doesn't help that the characters are so bland.

Migration is not a good movie. I'm tired of complaining about Illumination, but outside of Mario and the Sing movies, they've delivered so many average or bad movies. Their business model is obviously working, so we'll continue to be subjected to these films. This film only made $127 million at the box office, but in this weird post-Covid-but-still-Covid world, that might be good enough to warrant a sequel? I hope not, I have no desire to see these dumb birds go to Antarctica. I'm really not trying to be a hater, though. The visuals were solid and I went into this movie genuinely excited to watch it. It's just a shame that the writing was so bad to sink the whole film. This might not be a bad movie, but it's closer to bad than good.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Despicable Me, The Lorax, The Secret Life of Pets, Rio, The Angry Birds Movie