Now, my money is on this winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. It had everything, except songs, but then it had that one great sing-a-long momnent, so maybe, it did have everything! It had a great animation style - a brilliant mix of 2D, 3D, computer-animation and hand drawn - it was funny (seriously, a few good laugh out loud moments), emotional and heartwarming (parents and children, siblings, familial bonds), and most importantly it did not dumb down. The themes of being yourself, loving means letting go, acceptance are universal but they were never pandered to the lowest IQ-level. There was still a lot of heart in the story as irreverent, absurdist, fantastical as it was.
The animation style was amazing. It was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse but without the comic book vibes, instead it felt more organic to a "human" story. The 2D and hand drawn details just added another layer of familiarity and authenticity to the story.
Sure, the premise of the film was a sci-fi, robotic apocalypse that left only this one, dysfunctional family to save ALL OF HUMANITY from is kind of a trope, but the values it carried was beautifully laid out through the slightly long 114 minutes. Director and co-writer Mike Rianda never beat it into you and never lay it out point-blank. He slowly unfurled the knots within the Mitchells such that the climatic scene was well-earned and the epilogue a sweet, well-deserved ending.
It definitely also helped that Rianda and co-writer Jeff Rowe populated the story with interesting side characters to lighten the mood and bring the laughs. However, they have also sneakily imbued these minor side pieces with learning lessons of their own, e.g. social media envy, self-improvement, doing the right thing, acceptance.
And of course kudos to Rianda et all for having a LGBTQIA+ protagonist but never really making their sexuality a focus of the film.
As for the voice cast, first of all, cast Olivia Colman as your evil AI overlord Every. Single. Time. She was a hoot and stole everything scene! Abbi Jacobson gave our protagonist Katie a real sense of teenage angst, growth and maturity, and Maya Rudoph continues to be an excellent voice actress following her Emmy-winning success on Big Mouth. And director Rianda seemed to be having lots of fun voicing Aaron and the Furbies.
O.M.G. The Furbies are still scary. Terrifying.
The only complaint I have of this film was that it could have been a little tighter in the middle act and perhaps lose about 10 to 15 minutes. That would have kept the story more streamlined and the pacing to the climax more urgent. Nonetheless, this is most likely another Sony upset for the Oscar.
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