Written by Luke Barnes
Tom And Jerry is a live action hybrid animation film directed by Tim Story. The film serves to bring back the classic cartoon duo, but now in the real world fighting over hotel rooms. Yes, that’s right.
So before, I get into this I just want to acknowledge that this film is aimed at kids, you can tell it is in several ways such as the constant references to youth culture (that feel very much hello there fellow kids), and just the whole vibe of the film, and that’s fine maybe kids would enjoy the mindlessness of it, but anyone else would be a much harder sell.
I did not think that this film was bad, nor did I think it was good, if anything I thought that it was painfully average to the point of being a bit boring. If you compare the spectacle of the old cartoons, and the escalating fight scenes that Tom and Jerry used to have this film feels even tamer. The best sequence would probably be when Tom is trying to get into Jerry’s room for the very first time and things escalate to them wrecking the room, but even then it feels basic.
Perhaps most damning of all is that I actually preferred the human characters to Tom and Jerry. Chloe Grace Mortez as Kayla was a lot of fun and had quite a few great moments: I hope Mortez hitches her wagon to this franchise and appears in any sequels going forward, as she has a good emotional rapport with the characters which is hard to establish as they don’t talk- yet she finds a way. Likewise Michael Pena is entertaining as the film’s villain Terrence, though Pena gets stuck with most of the hello fellow kids dialogue he also manages to have a few funny moments, and actually makes the film bearable.
Overall, if you need something to show your kids that’s bland, stick them in front of Raya and the Last Dragon (which is actually better than this), but if you don’t want to pay for premium access on Disney + then I guess this will do. Though don’t try and watch this if you are over the age of 10 as it might put you to sleep.
Pros.
Mortez
Pena
Cons.
The cartoon was better
This feels overly tame
The soundtrack is distracting
It is mind-numbing
2/5
Another Millennial Reviewer 