The Mitchells vs. The Machines Review

I love it when a movie takes the time to look different. Particularly in animation, it’s so easy to settle for big-eyed, colorful dolls and cute animals (a “let’s all copy Disney” approach). Then you have your The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

And now we’ve got The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The movie is exciting to look at, with lots of little visual flourishes that remind me of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and The Amazing World of Gumball. The screen is alive with little illustrations, doodles, and unnecessary close-ups. The character designs are genuinely quirky and just a little bit off, but in a way that works. The film bounces around the color spectrum and the real vs. cartoony spectrum. I didn’t want to take my eyes off the screen and miss anything.

Closely related to this bizarre, fun, animation style is the family of main characters: a bizarre, fun family named the Mitchells. So often “Hollywood” weird just means very attractive people who happen to read books. The Mitchell family, by comparison, are loveable nutjobs: Dad’s a nature fanatic who hates and fears technology. Mom’s a positive spirit who doesn’t know when to quit. Their son, Aaron, is obsessed with dinosaurs and would rather throw himself out a window than risk embarrassing himself in front of a girl. Protagonist Katie, Aaron’s sister, is an aspiring filmmaker whose style can best be described as “deranged notebook scribbles.” Their dog is… pig? Dog? Bread?!

 The family is weird, disjointed, and hilarious. Can they have a normal trip and bond before Katie goes off to college?

No. Because a robot apocalypse happens.

The connection between apocalypse and Mitchells isn’t the strongest, but it does set up some amazing moments, and the script is lightning fast and rarely wastes a moment: one-off jokes come back as essential plot moments. Seemingly unimportant characters have surprising depth. And, perhaps most importantly for a family movie, every member of the family gets flaws, talents, and growth.

This movie is mighty entertaining and looks marvelous. It’s a genuine delight.

4.5 Pugs(?) out of 5.  Streaming on Netflix.