The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021) — Movie Review and Analysis
We have a trend nowadays where superheroes start to have fewer superpowers and become more humans. The Mitchells vs The Machines seems to follow the steps of contemporary heroes like Major Grom, where goodwill and dedication can make each of us play a crucial role in saving and improving our society.
Sony Pictures Animation did a fantastic job on CGI, perhaps a bit less on the script. The film lasts for one hour and fifty-three minutes, really worth it for your family time.
The movie touches on actual topics such as the role of technology in our life and society, how families are changing their behaviours, and how the solution is being weird as you wish but, also, to be ready to accept everyone else in their style.
The Mitchells vs The Machines — The Story
The Mitchells are a simple family, where each member is different from the other ones. They are certainly not like their “perfect” neighbours, the Posey. But in their most challenging time, the Mitchells will have the destiny of the entire humans on their hands. They will need to face the anger of technology, tired of the stupidity, ungratefulness, and selfishness of the humans.
Therefore, robots controlled by their master Pal will try to take over on earth, while the Mitchells will need to find a way to fix their relationships and save the human’s world.
- Will they succeed?
- And what we will learn together?
The Mitchells vs The Machines — Review, Analysis and Insights
(This section contains SPOILERS, we suggested to watch the movie first and then enjoy it)
As we mentioned above, the CGI is excellent. And it worth for Sony two nominees at the “Hollywood Critics Association” for:
- Best Picture
- Best Filmmaker to Michael Rianda
And it won an Award, in the same competition, as:
Best Screenplay for Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe
The actors
The actors behind our character’s voices deliver an engaging tone to the film. To mention some, we have Olivia Colman as Pal’s voice; Danny McBride as Rick, Maya Rudolph as Linda and Abbi Jacobson as Katie. And we like to mention Conan O’Brien as Glaxxon 5000. It’s never a simple job dubbing characters, and they deserve our kudos for their performances.
1. What is family nowadays?
The topic is challenging and complex, but the film delivers inspiring insights. We maybe can’t say that the Mitchells are the perfect family. Each of them is “weird,” authentic and with a different vision of the world and of the family’s idea.
Their passions bring them aside instead of creating the bond for the perfect team.
Rick is a man of nature who loves to fix everything with his hands and creativity. But he is also someone who gave up his dream for his family.
His wife Linda is a simple woman, dedicated to her house and children, where she develops superpowers to kill robots to protect her family. Well, who can’t say that for each mum?
Aron, the younger Katie’s brother, is seriously passionate about dinosaurs, to the point where he is desperate to find someone with his passion. But, no one gets him, and he grows up primarily alone. But life always has some good surprises, and Aron can confirm it.
Katie is the protagonist. Her dream is to become a movie’s creator, and she put all of her effort to succeed.
The desire to change each other instead of embracing us
Rick and Katie grew up with an excellent relationship. But, as often happens, at a certain point, their connection breaks. Katie starts to discover her passions, too contemporary for his father, and Rick loses control of that special bond they shared. Again, technology seems to push them apart. But we can see that the issue is another one. Rick doesn’t listen to her, doesn’t share her passions, and doesn’t engage in a good time with her dreams and hopes.
It’s the same for Katie, who doesn’t care for her father ideals and hobbies. They don’t talk to each other anymore, but the problem is not her laptop or phone. It is that their missing the desire to discover and accept each other. They pre-judge instead of exploring and embrace each different talent and passion. We must not have expectations of other people.
We should learn how to enjoy them for who they are instead because soon we couldn’t do it anymore. And it’s a big lesson for each of us. We shouldn’t be afraid to make the first step, to open ourselves to our loved one’s world.
Let’s be weird because it makes you unique
We should embrace any difference from what “normal” is because the best characters who saved the world are definitely weirdos. And this is not bad at all, considering the incredible personalities we found in our protagonists. Therefore, let’s embrace our differences because those make us who we are.
2. The role of technology in our society
As we mentioned above, technology is not the main issue in our society. Instead, it is the best thing that happened to us, as an angry Pal reminds us. It offers us the possibility to reach our loved one’s and friends wherever and whenever we want. Moreover, we can learn anything thanks to the web. Technology supports us every minute of our lives, but we often misjudge our superficiality with technology’s fault.
Rick and Katie thought something critical to us. And, sadly, we forgot gratitude and how to love. For example, how Mark (does the name remember you of someone in the tech industry?) thrown away Pal after everything they did together is heartless.
And it’s a cruel metaphor to remind us that we do the same with the most important people in our lives. Even a machine seems to have more heart than a human nowadays.
The data collection business
In desperation, Mark says that he regrets that he sold people data to unregulated companies. This topic is critical and reminds us that Mark seems inspired by the founder of Facebook.
Let’s be clear; we are grateful to Mark Zuckerberg strictly for the incredible potential benefits social media brought to us, but data collection is something that requires attention and review for the whole social media business.
Technology is helpful to humans
The film, to reinforce this message, delivers two excellent robots to support the Mitchells. Technology tries to adapt to us, while we can’t often understand how does it work. The tech industry changed our lives, probably too fast, and most of us didn’t follow up the new path. But we loved how the movie approached this complex subject.
3. The role of art to express ourselves
Katie tries to get attention from his father and share with him the passion of her life. But, as we previously said, she almost failed. Everything changes when her father sees how Mark loves “The dog cop” Rick understands the power of art. He feels terrible looking at his alter-ego, the sergeant. Art can change and improve ourselves, and movies are the best for it, as we are learning today.
The Mitchells vs the Machines — Final toughts
The movie delivers vital messages and entertainment. The weak point, according to us, is the script which focused more on CGI than on engaging and funny dialogues. We can definitely say that it’s a must-watch for your family time, but it’s not a masterpiece. And it’s a pity because the idea behind the film is genial. But we can’t put it on the same spot as Ice Age or Toy Story, to mention some.
Our final rating is 7/10
Where you can watch The Mitchells vs the Machine
The movie is currently available on Netflix. but check this link to see where you can watch it in your country.
Movies Suggestion
If you enjoyed the movie, we would like to suggest you new and inspiring similar film: Cruella, Raya and the Last Dragon and Luca.
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