The Mitchells vs. the Machines

8/10

The Mitchells vs. the Machines on Netflix is about the titular Mitchell family who are on a road trip to drop off daughter Katie (Broad City's Abbi Jacobson) at college. The trek is also intended by father Rick (Danny McBride) to help mend a rift between him and his daughter. Then, wouldn't you know it, the robot apocalypse hits. 

You may've seen the trailers for this (when it was supposed to be in theaters) under the title Connected, which is kind of weird the name changed. It's not uncommon for movies to alter their titles during development, but it's usually done before public advertising/the trailers.  

This has a very predictable, basic plot structure to it. The first fifteen minutes are the weakest. However, once the family hits the road everything picks up, and the predictability becomes excusable. This movie becomes enjoyable with a decent and goofy sense of humor. 

The parent-child relationship in this is very predictable and obvious, but it is done competently and hits the appropriate emotional points at the right moments. One thing I can't excuse so much is that there is one supporting character who's story just ends; the type of character where enough time was given to them that you'd think hey'd get proper closure, but they don't. 

Poking fun at machines rebelling against their masters has been done before, but the writers are able to mine a lot of jokes from the material. There are a couple major battles, and they're the highlight of this. The first one is definitely the most creative part of the film. The second one is just really good looking and well choreographed. I particularly like the robot and other evil technology designs in this.

To be honest, the whole movie looks good. It looks like 2D animated characters rendered in 3D. The character design feels reminiscent of a comic strip. However, there is one aspect that bugs me. The film includes a lot of 2D effects, think like doodling on a notepad. They felt like overkill. To quote Family Guy, "It insists upon itself."  

The voice cast is pretty good. I was particularly pleased with Danny McBride, who tends to play variations of the same character type, doing something completely new, and he definitely sells the character. 

So, overall I recommend this. Again, perhaps not the most original type of story, but it's definitely a good time for you and your kids.