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Movie Review: The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Mike Tyrkus
Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Michael Rianda, and Doug the Pug in The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Michael Rianda, and Doug the Pug in "The Mitchells vs. the Machines."

The new animated family adventure The Mitchells vs. the Machines offers a rousing tale of a seemingly dysfunctional family caught in the midst of a worldwide attempt by sentient machines to, well, destroy all humans. While it might sound like more serious science-fiction fare, it most assuredly is not that. Make no mistake, there is fun to be had for all in this well-made, character-driven, thoroughly entertaining tale of a family coming together to preserve what is most important – family.

The film follows the family Mitchell, particularly teenager Katie Mitchell, as the group (her parents, younger brother, and their pet Pug) escorts Katie to her first year of film school via road trip in the family station wagon. Of course, this family bonding exercise doesn’t go exactly as planned after electronic devices across the globe develop sentience and turn against humankind. Still, despite the disagreements between father and daughter, the Mitchells attempt to persevere through their familial problems to work together to save the world.

Written and directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe (part of the creative team behind the television series Gravity Falls), The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a charming and entertaining family picture. There is even a considerable amount of growth amongst the two main characters, Katie (Abbi Jacobson) and her father (Danny McBride) as they come to learn more about each throughout the course of their incredible adventure. The film was also produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who were both either writers of The Lego Movie (2014) and producers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), two other wonderful animated offerings, offering some idea of the quality of work offered here.

The real triumph of The Mitchells vs. the Machines is in the depiction of the relationship between Katie and her father. There is an organic honesty between the two of them that never comes across as forced or shoehorned into the film simply to further the storyline. Along those lines, all of the other characters in the film are similarly well-defined and illustrated. It is rare for an animated film with such an abundance of action in it to foster so much well-executed character development and emotional resonance throughout.

All that being said, it is possible that the film may be twenty minutes or so too long. There is a point at which things feel as though they have reset before the plot is propelled forward toward the more than satisfying conclusion. This comes across as if there were a few emotional beats that the filmmakers thought they simply had to include to bring everything full circle and thought better to shove them in two-thirds of the way through the story than not at all. Then again, when something is this well executed and enjoyable throughout, it is hard to quibble about too much of a good thing.

Although The Mitchells vs. the Machines doesn’t ascend to the heights of films like The Lego Movie or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it is a wildly inventive and entertaining animated film that manages to paint a wonderful picture of a father and daughter who are devoted to each other yet desperately attempting to remain relevant to one another.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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