My Movie Review on Tom & Jerry (2021) · 4:18pm Apr 2nd, 2021
Greetings, my friends.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Tom and Jerry". The film from 2021, to be precise.
Here's the rundown of it:
Tom is a traveling alley cat who aspires to become a pianist, and he stops by New York to see if he can get a big break there. Jerry is a mouse who's been looking for a new home for quite a while, until he sets his sights on an enormous building called the Royal Gate Hotel. And Kayla Forester is a street-smart young woman who has been doing a number of odd jobs, most recently becoming a new employee of the hotel.
However, when Jerry's presence in the hotel is quickly noticed by the staff, Kayla makes it her mission to somehow catch Jerry and get rid of him. Unable to catch the mouse herself, though, she later convinces the hotel management to hire Tom instead of calling an exterminator. All with the promise that the hunt will be discreet and it won't attract any publicity that would tarnish the hotel's reputation, especially since a wedding between two celebrities, Preeta Mehta and her fiancee Ben, is being planned.
I really can't lie, I've been interested in seeing this movie ever since I found out it was in the planning stages. Especially after learning that it'd be more faithful to the classic cartoons and was going to be a live-action/animated hybrid film in the veins of ones like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "Looney Tunes: Back in Action", which I thought would be a great change of pace in this time and age.
Not long after it was released in theaters, I was openly surprised to find that it was mostly panned by film critics, and I got curious as to why that was. So, I eventually saw the movie after it was added to a free cartoon website, the reason being because I don't have an HBO Max membership yet and I didn't want to visit a movie theater only to have to wear a mask.
So, what do I think of this film?
In all honesty, I thought it was awesome!
For instance, the direction by Tim Story, and the story by Kevin Costello, were amazingly well-done.
Among many things, Story and Costello created the most faithful adaption of the Tom and Jerry franchise I've seen in years. I could tell that the filmmakers were determined to make this motion picture actually be a Tom and Jerry movie in every way possible, and there was a sense of modernisque to it that helped it be distinguished as something made in the 21st century. The humor and comedic-timings throughout the movie were hilariously fun to watch, and not just because of the style being reminiscent to classic Tom and Jerry cartoons either. Plus, the movie carried emotion and heart that helped it come alive, and there were great morals about friendship and honesty.
On the subject of the large focus given to many of the human characters, I'd like to come clean by saying I didn't find anything wrong with that element whatsoever nor did I get why people would be complaining about it. When you're making a large film like this, you need more than just one or two characters to help expand a narrative and move forward, which is exactly what made the human characters essential parts of the story. Plus, this movie wouldn't be called "Tom & Jerry" for nothing. I've read occasionally that people believed the two title characters were getting sidelined in favor of others like Kayla and Terrence, but that actually wasn't the case at all. As a matter of fact, both Tom and Jerry were still the stars because they drove the entire film like they were the heart and soul of it all, and they were given a great amount of screen time and focus to match. Without talking too!
The animation for the animal characters was outstanding, if I may add.
The one thing I will admit is that I wondered why the other animal characters outside of Tom, Jerry, and other signature animal characters from the franchise (like Spike & Butch) weren't animated to look like real animals instead of every creature having a hand-drawn animated look. Nevertheless, I was pleased with the results. Not only did the animators retain the looks of the characters, but the hand-drawn animated characters blended beautifully with the live-action setting. They had wonderful depth and dimension too. The visual gags used with them were likewise enjoyable, and I could tell that the animators were having a field day working with Tom and Jerry in particular.
The acting, characters, and character development were pretty fun as well.
Many of the casting choices for the human characters may seem strange at first, but the performers portrayed their parts so well that it was like they were born for their roles. The most entertaining of them was that of Chloe Grace Moretz as Kayla, Michael Pena as Terrence, and Ken Jeong as Jackie. The people chosen to provide the voices of the animated characters (excluding Tom and Jerry) were surprisingly well-cast too, such as Bobby Cannavale as Spike the Bulldog and Nicky Jam as Butch the Alley Cat.
The character development in articulation was likewise quite powerful, and the characters themselves were delightful to spend time with. As a matter of fact, I can't recall a single character in the movie that I didn't enjoy watching or remember any that weren't without growth.
Finally, the music by Christopher Lennertz was marvelous.
Lennertz not only created melodies that were perfect for a motion picture about Tom and Jerry, but his score carried an emotionalism and sense of personality that helped the movie be full of life. In addition to this, the songs that were incorporated throughout this film were entertaining every step of the way, and they gave the score a flavor too.
In conclusion, "Tom & Jerry (2021)" is a delightful treat with a reputation I can't comprehend. It's fun, well-thought, and it's faithfulness to the classic cartoons is outstanding.
One thing's for sure, either the critics had no understanding of "Tom and Jerry" as a whole or they were just being immature trolls who weren't doing their jobs. In whatever case, this movie clearly got a bad rap for no reason at all and people should give it a chance before making a judgement towards it.
So, I rate "Tom & Jerry (2021)" five out of five stars.
I haven't watched that film, but I heard it's not a good movie. But that's your opinion.
Glad you enjoyed this. 😊
5488776
Like I said before, people should give this movie a chance before jumping to conclusions on whether it's terrible or not.
5488782
Thank you.
I've honestly been avoiding the reviews from critics so that I could make my own assumptions on the film itself and after reading your review, I feel more encouraged to see it.
5488803
I’m glad my review was able to help out on that regard.
I didn't like this movie as much.
Jerry is a kleptomaniac, JERRY starts most of all conflicts.
Tom is just trying to get by.
This is not what a good film is to me.
5489686
You saw the movie?
5489688
yep.
5489693
And I suppose whatever bad thing Tom does can be excused simply because he’s a cat? Like conning people for money by pretending to be blind while playing a piano?
And did it ever occur to you that there have been times where Tom would actually bully Jerry?
5489699
i dont deny it, but, nowadays, in modern films, jerry is always the 'hero' Even if he’s the one who starts everything
Its just one of those weird preferences i have.
5489712
I see.