Tom and Jerry

Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena, Jordan Bolger, Rob Delaney, Patsy Ferran, Pallavi Sharda, Colin Jost, Ken Jeong, Bobby Cannavale (voice), Lil Rel Howery (voice)
Directed by: Tim Story
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Comedy
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Tom and Jerry clash in an upscale hotel, where a young woman (Chloe Grace Moretz) is trying to succeed in a new job she conned her way into.

Review:

Tim: I will say this about Tim Story's Tom and Jerry- the animation is absolutely gorgeous. The blend of live action and animation has never looked better. I couldn't believe how the colors popped on screen, how slick and cool the animated animals looked. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of other positives to say about the film. This is a pretty bad movie- but man, it looks good.

I'll just stick with this theme for a moment. At this point, I've seen a ridiculous amount of animated movies, representing decades and decades of work. It surprised me how surprised I was by the animation. Obviously, visual effects are getting better all the time, but the animals (and especially Tom and Jerry) are so beautifully rendered. Set against the live action backdrop, the colors just pop off the screen. You almost don't want to pull your eyes away from the visuals, they are so outstanding. Suffice to say, I loved how this movie looked.

The story was pretty bad. I think it took like 4-5 days to get through this movie with my kids. We'd watch about 20-25 minutes and just get so bored, we needed to take a break and do something else. I can't imagine suffering through this movie in one sitting. It's not that anything is terrible, it's just a generic story that is so low on entertainment value.

Part of the issue is that you can't tell a compelling feature length story about Tom and Jerry. They are great in small doses. So, to fill the time, we're introduced to a host of human characters. These are hit or miss. The story of Kayla isn't very good, but it tried. It's the story of a lost girl finding herself by gaining confidence in her experiences and who she is. That's a solid message. The problem is just how boring it all feels as we're watching it. To some extent, I guess we do get to know the guests and staff at this luxury hotel. That was needed, to fill the time. None of their stories are especially interesting, but they aren't terrible. The problem is trying to blend all these different elements together doesn't quite come off well. It gives the film a constantly disjointed feel. The humans have some decent moments, but none are as exciting as the animated characters. And, we get a bunch of other animated characters, none of whom are as interesting as Tom and Jerry. And, as great as Tom and Jerry are (and they're the highlight of the movie, obviously), they are only good in small doses. It all adds up to a film where it feels like the deck was stacked against it. Tim Story isn't able to overcome these inherent challenges and the movie suffers as a result.

I like Chloe Grace Moretz, but this wasn't a great role for her. I really think she has talent as an actress, but I never bought her performance here. It felt too cartoonish. We needed her to center us in some level of reality and believability, but it didn't quite happen. Her performance felt too forced. Now, there were definitely strong moments where we're reminded of Moretz's talent. It's just not an especially strong performance as a whole. Michael Pena is a fantastic comedic talent so I was glad to see him here. He's definitely funny in his mostly antagonistic role. However, my complaints about Moretz apply to him, too. He's just a bit too over-the-top. It's goofy, but not in a good way. Still, there is some enjoyment about seeing Moretz and Pena just hamming it up together. I'm not that familiar with Colin Jost, but I thought he did a good job here. Pallavi Sharda gave a strong performance, too. She doesn't have a big role, but it felt like she gave one of the most believable performances of the film. I always like seeing Ken Jeong, but he didn't have much going on here. As a whole, the cast was fine, but they were hampered by the script and direction.

I'm not sure why we needed this movie. Thankfully, we were able to watch it for free on HBO Max. Tom and Jerry feel like remnants of a long-gone era. At their heart, they are fairly violent characters. You can try to make them friends, but that undercurrent of violence still exists. It was a little hard watching that with my 6 year-old. I'm not entirely sure these characters have a place in the 2020s. This movie certainly didn't make me feel like we need to see them again. I hope they sit on the shelf and collect dust.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5.5



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