Anthomation Assesses Tom and Jerry

Howdy guys, Anthomaton here. Today, I shall review one of the many by-products of Hollywood’s incapability to come up with original content: Tom and Jerry.

Tom and Jerry is a 2021 animated film based on the cartoon characters and animated theatrical short film series of the same name created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It is the second fully theatrical film adaptation of the characters following 1992’s Tom and Jerry: The Movie, and is directed by Tim Story and written by Kevin Costello. Originally announced as a live-action/computer-animated film in 2009, the film languished in development hell for several years. Plans eventually shifted to producing an entirely animated film, in the same vein as the original theatrical shorts, in 2015. The film again became a live-action/animated hybrid in 2018, with animation produced by the Warner Animation Group, and filming beginning in 2019. Tom & Jerry was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on February 26, 2021, along with a one-month simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max. The film has grossed over $39 million worldwide and received generally negative reviews from critics, who criticized the film’s plot, humor and focus on the human characters over the titular duo. SPOILER ALERT, but the critics were right on this one.

A legendary rivalry reemerges when Jerry moves into New York City’s finest hotel on the eve of the wedding of the century, forcing the desperate event planner, named Kayla,  to hire Tom to get rid of him. As mayhem ensues, the escalating cat-and-mouse battle soon threatens to destroy her career, the wedding, and possibly the hotel itself.

The story is 20 years too late and it really shows its inability to be unpredictable or even be funny. The film focuses way too much on the human characters, specifically on Kayla who is not interested or even likable as you find out later in the review. The narrative is so lazy that you can point every scene before it even. I mean, tell me if you have not heard of this plot before. There is this girl, who is desperate to get a job, is hired for that job, gets into some “hilarious” antics, then it’s revealed that she is a fraud, everyone mops and dops around, and then everyone gets back together and they all lived happily ever after. Oh and Tom and Jerry are sometimes on screen even though they should be on screen ALL of the time since the film is titled after THEM! It’s like the producers of this movie said to the creators: “Hey, you remember those Chipmunk and Smurfs that were God-awful, but made a lot of money at the box office because they appealed to somebody’s nostalgia, let’s try to be exactly like that.” Also, Tom and Jerry don’t talk, but the rest of the animals can. Constancy, what’s that?! And another thing, the musical score in this movie is absolute garbage! They try to go for this hip-hop, funky tone but the only thing it accomplishes is being able to make the audience cringe. For example, the movie literally starts off with these rapping pigeons that make Vanilla Ice sound talented. They are trying to be the rapping version of the gospel choir from Disney’s Hercules (1997). But the thing is, they were good singers and you’re not, so STOP trying to be something you are not! Overall, it’s stupid, lame, and boring!

The animation would not be totally bad if it was over a 3D cartoonish backdrop, but because it is in the real world, it looks so unsettling. It’s like we are watching two movies at the same time that were badly spliced together. And the thing is, the animated characters are interacting all of the time with the human characters. It makes Cool World (1992) look like a finished product. As for the designs and movements of the characters themselves, they are not terrible, but they would have worked so much better in their own environment. If you can’t even get the visuals down, chances are that your animated film is most likely going to suck! 

The characters range from being cliched to unlikable. Let’s start with our two leads. After years of fighting, the cat and mouse duo have gone their separate ways where Tom wants to become a pianist and Jerry wants to find a new home. If the entire film was just about that, then it wouldn’t be half bad. But then comes the human characters. There is Kayla (played by Chloe Grace Moretz), a young employee of the Royal Gate Hotel and a wedding planner who hires Tom to remove Jerry before the wedding. She may sound like your typical wide-eyed who aspires for more. But in reality, she is a cut-throat who will do anything to get what she wants. Don’t believe me, how does this sound? When Kayla is applying for the hotel job after being fired from her previous one, she bamboozles another person applying for the same job into thinking she is the employer and that the other person is not qualified for the position. That’s not the least of it. After that, Kayla STEALS the resume of that person and pins it off as being her own. Worst of all, she’s ACCEPTED for the job! She literally committed identity fraud and got away with it, and we are supposed to root for her? I want her behind bars, not working for a high-class hotel! The rest of the characters are small potatoes, so I’ll blaze through them. There Terence (played by Michael Pena), the scheming event manager of the Royal Gate Hotel and Kayla’s boss who wants Kayla because he is jealous that she will take over his job. There is the famous bride and groom, Preeta and Ben. And don’t forget by Ken Jeong, being his usual annoying self. Also, Tom and Jerry are voiced by William Hanna, Mel Blanc, Frank Welker, and June Foray via archival recordings. This sounds more like fancy talk for saying that they wouldn’t want credit for the film.

Hollywood, I thought we were past these live action/animation abominations. The story is cliche-filled and boring, the animation blends terribly with the human environment, and the characters are not appealing in the least. If you are a huge Tom and Jerry fan, maybe you can ignore the live action parts. Everyone else will have a tough time getting through this snore-fest.

Score:

3/10