Taking a break from giving Ice Cube more cinematic material to embarrass himself with (for now, given Ride Along 3 is apparently in development… thoughts and prayers are appreciated at this time), Tim Story, for some reason, has been handed the reins on the latest feature-length outing for one of the great cartoon duos. Between his inability to flesh out ostensibly original material with the Ride Along films, and his recurrent dropping of the ball with pre-established IPs like with the latest version of Shaft, I highly question why he was the one drafted for this.
But to his credit, he manages to modernise everyone’s favourite cat and mouse… not their classic material, though. Instead, more than anything else, this ends up being more of a modernisation of the ‘90s feature film, falling into the same traps that one did and even finding ways to go lower than before.
The initial premise, of Tom and Jerry causing havoc in a posh Manhattan hotel, is admittedly a decent backdrop for their antics. It’s more than a little Jerry Lewis in its setup, but as far as classic aesthetic, it works. Shame that the promise starts and ends there, however, as Tom and Jerry once again end up playing second-fiddle to the myriad of human characters on display, Chloe Grace-Moretz’ Kayla especially.
It’s annoying enough to see her character arc play out as yet another bout of finger-wagging at Millennial entitlement (from a film that wants laughs but isn’t willing to put the effort in to get them, oh the irony), but it’s sad when the rest of the cast are so thread-bare that them taking the spotlight is even more of a glaring issue than it already is. The only human in attendance that managed to get some chuckles out of me was Colin Jost as a celebrity groom getting married in the hotel, and he’s barely involved in the plot as is.
There’s also the music… which both shows Tim Story once again peaking as early as the requisite rap song over the opening credits (Can I Kick It? More like Should I Kick It?), and echoes a lot of the musical trend-chasing of the 90s version. It isn’t an all-out musical, thank fuck, but when it gets to the point of Tom’s Auto-Tuned singing (yes, Auto-Tune in a Tom & Jerry movie, because taste is optional), it’s hard not to recognise a similar dirge of ideas on display. I’m counting my blessings that at least neither of the title characters have voice actors this time around, but it’s not like their physical performances are filling in the space.
And speaking of the physical, knowing that Warner Animation Group has a Space Jam sequel waiting in the wings (which, I gotta be honest, I’m looking forward to quite a bit), it’s odd seeing how the combination of live-action and animated footage is utilised here. The animation has this cell-shaded effect that makes some of the characters look like Borderlands refugees, but when we actually get to the slapstick (which, for the main selling point of the franchise at large, is in unfortunately short supply), it gives the impression that it could handle more strenuous work than it is ultimately handed. With how badly the script tries to manufacture conflict between the leads, as if conflict is such a stretch for characters best known for bonking each other on the head, you’d think they’d be up for more digitised violence, but alas, it’s so much more vital that we watch Chloe basically play a younger Jennifer Lopez from Second Act.
It’s not as if making an old-school cartoon movie nowadays is a completely lost art, considering how much the classics inform 3D animated movies to this day. But this isn’t Shaun The Sheep we’re talking about here, or the original Space Jam, or hell, even the previous theatrical release. As baffling as that last one turned out, that final chase scene is still premium insanity of its era, not like the tepidity shown here where the ‘modernisation’ amounts to the use of a drone and a motorised skateboard and that’s it. This carries the same preoccupation with unnecessary noise, and clear lack of understanding of what makes Tom and Jerry worth bringing back in the first place, to the point where their inclusion in their own freaking movie feels arbitrary. It’s as if no progress has been made whatsoever since the ‘90s, or even since that pointless Willy Wonka feature that did the meme rounds back in 2017. It may not be the same kind of impotent aimlessness, but that stench of desperation is unmistakable.
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