Sunday, April 11, 2021

(2021) Tom & Jerry - An Amazing Blend of Live-Action and Animation of Iconic Cartoon Characters, though Lacking Interesting Story

There were so many new movies released in the past few days in various platforms that made me a bit confused of what to watch first. It was such a nice problem as compared to having only one or even worse no movies that intrigued me. Anyway I had my eyes on this movie as it was based on cartoon characters that I liked as a child. Plus it was quite brand new. So let's get on with this.

Brief Story Line

Kayla Forrester (Chloë Grace Moretz - The Addams Family 2019 version, The 5th Wave etc) was a young woman doing odd jobs and tried to convince the GM of The Royal Gate hotel, Henry Dubros (Rob Delaney) to work there. Despite the disapproval from the event manager Terence Mendoza (Michael Peña - Fantasy Island12 Strong etc), Kayla was given the chance and she really thought she was getting the job of her dream. That was until Jerry Mouse & Tom Cat managed to sneak into the hotel wreaking havoc.

Due to the biggest event at the hotel, the wedding party between 2 high profile and very wealthy people Preeta Mehta (Pallavi Sharda - My Name is Khan etc) and Ben (Comedian Colin Jost), Kayla was tasked to make sure Jerry was caught. Things were further complicated as Ben & Preeta also brought their pets Spike the dog (voiced by Bobby Cannavale - Thunder ForceJumanji: Welcome to the Jungle etc) and Toots the cat who would be at odds with Tom and Jerry.

So what would happen to all of them? Find them in this comedy movie.

End of Brief Story Line

This movie was truly fun and made me laugh out loud so many times during the first half. It was filled with the crazy things Tom and Jerry would do whenever they met. They were totally what I remembered them to be, with Tom always tried to catch Jerry but Jerry somehow always managed to escape, leaving Tom being the unfortunate victim of his own doing. However, once we get to the middle of the story, especially when the focus was on the wedding, I felt the fun was reduced. Luckily it was more fun again towards the end.

Apparently it was quite a universal feeling as critics and audiences alike (including my wife who has seen the movie before myself) did not like the story involving the humans. I myself thought it was probably due to the characters who were not that interesting. Chloë Grace Moretz at least tried her best to fit her role as the street-smart woman but Michael Peña seemed a little bit out of place. I personally felt the worst were the bride and groom who were not convincing at all as these in-love couple (they seemed more like fake personalities). Oh there was also the appearance of Ken Jeong (My Spy, The Hangover trilogy etc) giving his usual absurd performance.

The animation though was truly amazing. My God they really did a fantastic job in combining the cartoon animation with the live people and surroundings. The special effects were wonderful and definitely worth it. The classic Tom and Jerry chasing with those slapstick humors were satisfying and brought lots of memory and it totally brightened my day. The presence of Spike the dog plus other cartoon characters were fun as well. Btw, there was a brief post end-credit scene in case you are wondering.

Tom & Jerry were famous and iconic characters that I have personally known during my childhood years when the cartoons were shown on local TV and aired multiple times. Despite their re-runs, it was always fun to watch them doing their classic cat and mouse run. Tom & Jerry were created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (Hanna & Barbera were creators of famous cartoons such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and also producer of Scooby Doo). Tom & Jerry were so popular that even the short cartoon of The Itchy and Scratchy Show in The Simpsons series were actually the violent & bloody parodies of Tom & Jerry. 

Overall this movie was one of the movies that was purely for fun. Those who love Tom & Jerry would have loved seeing them at each others throats again and the special effects of bringing them to life in the actual world were absolutely awesome. As long as you do not really bother the not really interesting story and human characters and just focus on Tom & Jerry (including Spike) in action, you should be able to enjoy the movie like I did.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars 

PS: The movie is available on Catchplay+ platform for a one time fee of IDR 45k + tax and you can watch it from the comfort of your home.

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