Whenever any movie comes out that’s trying to achieve this connectable level of wholesomeness in a genuine way, there’s always that chance that its going to come off as too forceful and even slightly manipulative. While things have definitely gotten better in films (mainly targeted at kids) with trying to replicate a traditional family environment and chemistry, it’s always going to be a balancing act when that right mixture of over-the-top zaniness is matched with an equal amount of genuine heart that something like Disney and even DreamWorks on occasion gets correct. The Mitchells vs the Machines manages this while parading around as something that looks decades old on premise alone, but if there’s anything this movie shows on and off the screen, is that passion and support goes a long way. Aspiring film-maker Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is very excited to be moving away from her family and going to college where she feels more accepted by her peers. While her mother, Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph) and her little brother Aaron (voiced by Mike Rianda) are more supportive of her YouTube career, her more outdoorsy father, Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) is less convinced about it as a career path. Not wanting to let their last moments be an argument, her father decides the family will drive Katie to college on an extended road-trip. While trying to make the best of the situation, the family’s awkward trip is casually interrupted by a robotic apocalypse caused by PAL (voiced by Olivia Coleman), a highly intelligent A.I which wants revenge on being thrown away after the newest technology made her irrelevant. Literally the last people not captured, but not very capable to fix things, the Mitchells along with two defective robots (voiced by Beck Bennett and Fred Armisen) have to save the world to the best of their abilities before every last organic being is shot into space to make room for the bots to rule the world. Released on Netflix after the pandemic prevented a cinema screen release, The Mitchells vs the Machines provides people with a bucket-load of enjoyable moments, with great visuals, insanely zany comedy, and plenty of warm feelings to stabilize everything in-between.

The important thing to note from the beginning of this is that this movie has a premise and cliches that are literally decades old at this point (father-daughter issues, dysfunctional family coming together, road trip to fix issues, a robot apocalypse, etc.). They weren’t good cliches to begin with, so that does seem like a pretty rough start, but like anything, correct handling of even a tired idea can be done right with the right direction and right people, and this movie has some pretty strong people behind it. Not only is it produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (the two responsible for movies like The Lego Movie and Into the Spiderverse) but it is also being managed by first-time director Mike Rianda, who was a creative consultant and writer for the hit Disney Channel show, Gravity Falls, and co-directed and written by Jeff Rowe, who also worked as a writer for Gravity Falls. These two names are crucial to how this movie manages to make this pretty lame concept work, it makes it feel authentically energized and relatable on a crazier plane than usual. The movie is using these cliches to move the story forward, but it never feels run by them, instead allowing its fast-paced humor, visual style, and charmingly off-beat characters to carry the audience through the running time. For this movie to make this narrative work, it needs to come from an authentic place, but not too much to the point where it kills the mood that its going for. Whether or not people think the family dynamic is too over-the-top or not, no one can deny that it nails the smaller, more awkward moments very nicely. The family is described as messy and ‘’not that great’’, but they clearly love each other and despite being imperfect, they work well off of each other. Its similar to The Simpsons or something like The Incredibles, they feature set-ups and consequences that can feel pretty larger-than-life, but at the centre is a believable family unit that you want to keep watching and see what happens to them. Despite its craziness, at its core it is a genuinely nice send-up to wild families (which can especially be felt in the end credits).

What’s also reassuring is not only that these characters are acted and designed so much more uniquely than other animation studios, is that each one is also going against a typical trend or cliché that’s placed upon them. Much like the main plot, the characters in this do have pretty standard beginnings and predictable arcs, but the handling of said arcs isn’t as predictable as it could have been. Both Katie and her father are against each other for the movie, but neither dislikes the other and both never feel like sticks-in-the-muds either, both are likeable people who just think different and have to learn how to take information from the other in order to survive. The villain is very similar in that regard; having the main threat of the movie be a A.I phone app who is offended that she was replaced by the next model and for being ‘’poked and swiped at’’ is funny enough, but the movie isn’t quite so against technology and the internet as you would expect. The world is literally being overtaken because of a new internet upgrade, but it’s also the knowledge of the internet which saves the day. Its rather mocking the monopolization and overexposure that it has on the world as opposed to completely bad-mouthing it, which is more balanced, more refreshing and leads to much better humor. All the voice actors are so good at matching the chaotic energy the animation is giving their designs, and even if choices like Chrissy Teagen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi and even Mike Rianda (who sounds nothing like an actual kid) seem odd, they all just work nicely for this type of weird movie.

If there’s anything that Lord and Miller have proven with movies that they’ve worked on, its that they always have a way of making something feel charmingly child-like without it coming across as pandering or childish in nature, but that its also going to come with its fair share of chaotic, high-flying, color exploding energy that is almost so insane that its hard to see, but its handled with such careful care and timing, that it’s almost impossible not to. Even in comparison to something like Lego Movie and Spiderverse (which were insanely chaotic movies), this one feels especially chaotic with how fast and how wild the designs can look in crisis or in just normal situations. Its like its aware the stakes and circumstances aren’t as drastic or as extreme as either of those films, so they just present regular life experiences as insane as a child would envision them to be, it’s so engrossing and unique for something of its type. Sony has always had these designs and colors that thankfully look distinct from other animation companies and with Lord and Millers’ help, they’ve expanded their styles to feature more 2D elements which makes it even more distinct and expressive. This movie took a lot of inspiration from 2D animation, which can be felt in how uniquely drawn the leads are and how it feels like the movie exists within a graphic novel with its warmly lit environments, sketchy stylisation, and expressive designs, which provides great contrast with the technological sides being much cleaner, more chrome-like in texture and filled with uniquely moving creatures which better off-set the real people. For a movie where its humor is tied directly into the culture of internet, it doesn’t feel like the movie has dated itself. With most movies like it, it would feature several current jokes or memes that are popular for the time, but this is more highlighting the culture of the online platform in general and its spaced out throughout several time periods, going from screaming animal videos to giant demonic killer Furbies, it knows what its doing and it doesn’t date itself at all.

While being on Netflix would mean that some people probably haven’t heard about it or given it the chance, it seems like its found itself plenty of success there as it’s the most successful animated movie on the platform as of 2021 (also the name was going to be changed to the much blander ‘Connected’ which was not something the creators wanted). The Mitchells vs the Machines is a wonderfully energized movie with striking visuals, an enthrallingly chaotic experience, passionate voice actors with equally passionate character designs, and a set-up that takes a bland premise with annoying cliches and does everything right with them to make it relatable and wonderfully heartfelt while still being engaging and even strangely timeless in aspects. Its hard to say where this ranks in Lord and Miller’s line-up as they have made some pretty fantastic animated movies, but if they keep making stuff like this, it’s a list that will hopefully keep expanding.

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