The Mitchells vs. the Machines

5/4/2021

If you enjoy reading my Spoiler-Free reviews, please follow my blog @ https://www.msbreviews.com When it comes to deciding if a certain film is added to my watchlist or not, I consider various factors. From genre and synopsis to cast, directors, and screenwriters, sometimes just a familiar name can convince me to give that movie a go. Producers and/or executives are far from being remotely influential in this type of decision. However, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have directed/written/produced some of my favorite animated films of the last decade (The LEGO Movies, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), so obviously, I needed to watch The Mitchells vs. The Machines, previously known as Connected. Mike Rianda has his debut as a director, screenwriter, and voice actor (Aaron Mitchell, s

6/4/2021

Decent watch, probably won't watch again, but can recommend. Expecting this to be a Dreamworks picture, I was surprised to see Sony heading this one up. Watching this robo-apocalypse story, it feels like just a weird amalgamation of other movies that happen to be cg animated, involve robots, dysfunctional families, and corporate hostilities. While all these are great elements, their combination, with the movie's special flare just falls short for me. While my disbelief is fully suspended, it just broke off after a bit with some of the goofy stuff the humans end up doing contrasted with some of the amazing things the robots are doing that actually makes some sense. The movie looks great, and is technically great, but the characters and story just fall just short for me.

3/29/2025

I think it’s quite apposite that at a time when governments are all debating whether they ought to spend 2/3% of GDP on our defence, this film rather succinctly points out that armies, navies and air forces are going to be of little use when mankind faces it’s most potently existential threat. No wifi! When tech fights back and cuts off that magical signal, just think of how little around us will actually work. Our water, our electricity and our food supplies - all controlled by something that doesn’t actually exist! Luckily we have the “Mitchell” family on hand to thwart the cunning plans of a queenly smart phone to eradicate humanity once and for all so that toasters may playfully graze in the meadow and fridges may consume the beer themselves. Dad (reminded me of the late British DJ Ste

7/2/2025

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a movie about a lovely, creative nerd that has a nice family, but one that doesn't "get" them, and that tries to find "her people" and be able to be herself in life. And then, on her way to do this, chaos ensues, family troubles are added, and everything goes haywire. The movie takes some very common and classical themes: parents that don't understand their children, people trying to be themselves, growing up and finding your way in life, and combines it with totally over-the-top, crazy action and a colorful mix of crazy art styles. Typical animation movie style, 2D animation, hand-puppets and even silly animal GIFs: this movie uses all kinds of different media to display the creativity of the main character Katie. Katie is nerdy, creative, cra