Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Quirky, dysfunctional families everywhere might see a bit of themselves in the animated family flick “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.” The Netflix film, directed by Michael Rianda, follows the Mitchells and their cross-country, family-bonding road trip, which quickly goes awry when machines take over the world and the Mitchells are the last people left to save the human race.

The Mitchell family includes outdoorsy dad Rick (Danny McBride), endearing mom Linda (Maya Rudolph), film school-bound daughter Katie (Abbi Jacobson), dinosaur-fanatic little brother Aaron (Michael Rianda) and their cute pug, Monchi.

The movie’s sci-fi robot apocalypse premise is nothing new, but after the concept was remixed into a family comedy, it’s not only original but also personal and downright hilarious. The family dynamics make the film as heartwarming as it is unique.

While the film’s main action is centered on bringing down an evil AI, its emotional core is about the father-daughter relationship. Rick is doing all that he can to reconnect with his teen daughter, who is about to leave her family behind for college before he’s ready to say goodbye.

Like watching “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” the animation in “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” feels like watching a fresh and exciting take on the medium. The animated world is built so intimately and dynamically that it feels like watching a real-life family.

Every frame is treated with so much detail and attention, from the stickers covering Katie’s laptop to Linda comically failing to cover her family’s imperfections with a Snapchat-like filter over a family photo. With all of these references to pop culture, it only makes sense that the couple Linda compares Rick and herself to is voiced by the unbelievably photogenic and social media-savvy power couple John Legend and Chrissy Teigen.

The animators also use the visual medium to invite the audience in on Katie’s whimsical imagination. As the filmmaker in the family, Katie creates a series called “Dog Cop” on YouTube starring none other than Monchi. Katie is always concocting plans on their quest to save the world, which actually aren’t all that crazy, considering the situation. She draws ideas in her notebook that portray her family as heroes in an action movie — so meta, considering we’re watching her in an actual action movie — and her drawings leap off the page and come to life.

In another scene, Katie and her dad fight killer robots, stars and rainbows that rhythmically pop in and out of the frame along with the catchy Rihanna tune, “Live Your Life,” and it looks like our protagonist Katie has gone back as an editor and left her own eccentric, artistic touch on the film.

The Mitchells are undoubtedly imperfect, but it turns out they’re exactly what the world needs. The film is very timely for the 21st century, as it confronts the pitfalls of technology and social media in our “in real life” connections with other people.

“The Mitchells vs. The Machines” takes the theme head-on with a fresh, nuanced twist and a funky style that points out the evils of tech but also affirms that it can be used for good: to bring some joy into our lives and help us connect with those we love.

Published on May 10, 2021 at 10:18 pm

Contact Madison: mntyler@syr.edu