It seems that every few years, there’s another filmmaker attempting to offer some form of half-hearted commentary on our society’s increased use of the digital devices that seem destined to enslave us all; from the one-two punch of 2013’s dismal “Disconnect” and “Men, Women & Children” the following year to practically every episode of “Black Mirror,” the line on the graph labeled “Quality” tends to ebb and flow with all the frequency of a neglected version of Angry Birds or any number of brightly-colored iPad apps children play that adults can’t even begin to understand. As we begin to emerge from the fog of pandemic fatigue and start to again envision a world where the majority of new films find their home in theaters as opposed to smartphone screens, the beautifully animated road comedy “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” manages to take the genre and, while admittedly dipping its toes in the murky waters of cliché more than a few times, offers enough of a fresh take to provide a breezy escape during the near-two hour journey that unfolds.
Previously titled “Connected” and intended for a theatrical release (but having suffered a similar fate as so many films slated to drop last year), “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” shifted from the cineplex to the home cinema thanks to Netflix, which could lead one to lump the film in with so many unwatchable animated jaunts that occupy the recesses of the streamer. It’s a shame, as “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” is more akin to the best of Pixar or such outstanding offerings of the past decade as “The Lego Movie,” an unsurprising comparison when one learns “Lego Movie” masterminds Phil Lord and Christopher Miller helped produce the film and, in the process, left their trademark vibe and brand of humor splattered throughout.
‘Mitchells,’ which is directed by Mike Rianda, focuses on the eponymous family, in particular, the daughter, Katie (Abbi Jacobson), whose offbeat creative personality has netted her acceptance into a college where she looks forward to being with like-minded people and escape from her well-meaning, outdoorsy dad Rick (Danny McBride). Katie’s passions fly in direct opposition to Rick’s desire to be one with nature, and following years of pent-up conflict and noticing how his family, which includes wife, Linda (Maya Rudolph), and son, Adam (Rianda), seems more interested in looking at screens instead of plates at the dinner table, Rick decides the best way for all to reconnect is via a cross country road trip that will end at Katie’s college and hopefully all having learned a few lessons about life along the way. It’s as ABC After School Special as it gets in terms of the intended message, but when the head of a wildly successful tech giant decides to unveil a line of robotic assistants to replace the now-outdated Siri-esque operating system that’s occupied phones worldwide, said OS (Olivia Colman) decides the best way to deal with the betrayal is to turn said robots against humanity. It seems the OS, named PAL after the company with which it shares a name, has not only achieved sentience but some sort of genuine feelings towards its creator, Dr. Mark Bowman (Eric Andre), and now jealously wants revenge. It’s like a less-aggressive “Terminator” or far better “Lawnmower Man 2,” only without Matt Frewer or the kid from “Last Action Hero” running around a terrible $20 CG landscape. (Just skip “Lawnmower Man 2,” by the way.)
As mentioned, we’ve seen these warnings before and will continue to do so as phones get smarter and media becomes even more instantly accessible. However, once you look past this well-worn premise, it’s likely you’ll find a genuinely touching, funny romp as the robots start their takeover and the Mitchells find themselves forced to work together to survive. All voicework is handled well, especially in the performances of Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett as two malfunctioning robots who somehow form an alliance with the family and offer a generous amount of the film’s humor. There’s genuine emotion as well—the familial distance widened by tech does inevitably lessen as the Mitchells learn how to endure the situation, with a few predictable twists that wouldn’t feel at all out of place in Lord and Miller’s previous animated offerings and fit into the flow nicely to the point where the unusually long runtime skips along at a forgivable pace. It again should be pointed out that this film looks excellent—let it be said Lord and Miller know how to produce some truly enjoyable pieces of animation. An added bonus comes from Katie’s viewpoint, which frequently manifests in the form of hand-drawn characters, cutaways that help accentuate her thoughts in a way that is rather clever.
The film is not without its share of flaws — Andre is mostly unmemorable (Wikipedia was required to remember his character’s name), and the usually reliable Colman as PAL dances between prototypical villain and downright dullness. Even Mark Mothersbaugh, who provides the score, finds his usually solid music unfortunately buried in the mix, and any moments where he’s allowed to come up for air result in a soundtrack that brings little, if anything, to the table. Luckily, any valleys on the graph are buoyed by the positives — even the moments of action, highlighted by a mall battle between the family and an army of appliances, help keep the momentum going.
At the end of the day, it shouldn’t be hard to move on from any negatives scattered throughout “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” to find an outing seemingly perfect for the times we live in and a good reminder of the importance of family far better than any entry in the endless “Fast and Furious” saga. It may not be perfect, but neither are the Mitchells, and that’s just fine. [B]
“The Mitchells vs. The Machines” is available on April 30 on Netflix.