The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is an animated film from Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, along with producers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. It was previously slated to be released by Sony Pictures before the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in being having its distribution rights sold to Netflix. It follows a family taking a road trip to drop off Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) to college, and also serving as a last minute opportunity for her father, Rick (Danny McBride), to recapture the bond they used to have. Along with Katie is her mother, Linda (Maya Rudolph), her younger brother, Aaron (Mike Rianda), and their pug, Monchi.
While they are on their trip, something unexpected happens – the robot apocalypse. Mark Bowman (Eric Andre) is a tech giant responsible for a Siri-esque virtual assistant program called PAL (voiced by Olivia Colman), which is used by many people around the world including most members of the Mitchells, and when he creates new robots that would render PAL’s services obsolete, PAL takes over the robots, and begins taking over the world, capturing people and imprisoned in pods. The Mitchells survive their initial encounter, being the last humans remaining, but must now work together as a unit to stop the robots from completing their plan.
Rick is a tad more prepared for what’s going on. He is the only one in the family who doesn’t spend most of his time on the phone, he knows how to use his tools, and think practically, even if it sometimes puts him in a position against his family, especially Katie. Their relationship is the core of the film, as they both often try and fail to understand each other. He wants to play things safe, and struggles to let her go and make her own decisions, especially with her art, while she can’t look past their differences and just wants to get as far away as possible.
As far as animation goes, comparisons can be made toward Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, another Lord and Miller production. However, that comparison has less to do with its aesthetics, and more towards its energy, and its willingness to be as creative as possible with the expressions in not just the human characters, but their environment, and numerous other splashes of images and doodles within the frame. This not only enhances the storytelling and characters, but also the humor. It’s a hilarious film full of wonderful touches that makes it a film worth revisiting over and over just to find all the little things you may have missed the first time around.
The film takes advantage of our world, which is full of smart items, to play with the idea of how technology has become such a major part of our lives. Thankfully, unlike other films that tend to cover similar thematic ground, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines doesn’t concern itself with hackneyed moralizing. Its focus is more on family, and the way they grow to come together by embracing their idiosyncrasies instead of constantly coming in conflict with one another. It’s a sweet film, and one that I think has the potential to speak to folks beyond the children that this is aimed at.
The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is a total blast. I found its energy irresistible, its characters lovable, and its animation thoroughly awe-inspiring in its detail and design. While its frantic and irreverent nature would come across as generic under less delicate hands, considering how much that is the go-to approach with American family films, the filmmakers, and everyone involved in the animation itself, have a strong foundation in the story, and put in so much ingenuity and imagination into practically every frame. It has a lot of style, and plenty of personality, with earned emotional beats that keep you invested. The voice work is great, Mark Mothersbaugh’s score is terrific, and it’s just a really good time overall. I would love to see what this creative team can pull off next.
The Mitchells Vs. The Machines is now out in select theaters, and will be available on Netflix starting April 30th.