My Review of Tom and Jerry (2021) · 2:28am Mar 14th, 2021
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
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Hey, guys! Tonight, I will be reviewing Tom and Jerry (2021)! Before I speak my mind about this live-action adaptation, I want to inform you of my time with this franchise. Tom and Jerry has always been one of my favorite cartoons while growing up, and I have sweet nostalgic memories of watching the classic slapstick cartoon on Boomerang, Cartoon Network. Even today, I have very strong feelings and a soft spot for the cartoon. I also watched the 1992 theatrical film when I was a kid. At that time, I liked it a lot. It wasn’t until I got older that I noticed how flawed, cringeworthy, and bland the movie was in comparison to the source material.
Ever since that time, I hated the movie even now. But when I heard news that they were going to release this movie just a few weeks ago, I was like, “Really? Hmmm, I wonder how they’re gonna pull it off.” So, I watched this film with moderately low expectations. But... throughout this entire time watching the film... I was enjoying all of it. At the end of it, I LOVED IT!! This is honestly the best Tom and Jerry movie I have watched in a LONG time! This is waaaaayyyy better than the original film. I can rewatch this film anytime I want to to relish the awesome moments this film has! Why? It’s that simple, fellas...
It has great character development, awesome chemistry, and excellent references to the original cartoon. It is filled with Easter eggs some of which I immediately recognized and others... I didn’t quite catch at first. The humor is spot-on, and the story was very well done. Now, I am fully aware of the negative feedback this movie has gotten from the audience, but frankly, most of their reviews and opinions are heavily biased and ridiculous. They said that the human characters are boring, and Tom and Jerry were the side characters in their own movie. I can understand their reasons for the first part, but the second part is objectively wrong.
Tom and Jerry are not side characters in their own movie. The story completely focused on them as they were the main elements that affected everything that happened in the movie. That’s why it is about them—it’s not just Kayla’s story, it’s also their story. A side character implies that he/she is not the major center of attention within the story and actually serves as a supporter of the real main character. Tom and Jerry were not in that department because the movie focuses on them and their new journey involving the human characters. Thus, the cat and mouse are the real stars.
Also, THANK YOU, Tim Story, for not having them talk at all!! Because if there is one major thing the original film got completely wrong... is by having them talk normally. This movie’s writers understood perfectly what makes them the iconic characters we know and love from childhood. Yes, they talked in the classic cartoon, but only occasionally for the sake of a gag or joke but not frequently . I also loved how they incorporated some of the original yells and screams of Tom here and there. Not to mention that the CGI animation of the cartoon characters look fairly good on screen.
As for the human characters, every single one of them were fantastic! All of them were funny and seemed that they had a great time being in the film. Two of my favorite human characters are Terrence (played by Michael Pena) and Chef Jackie (played by Ken Jeong). I don’t know about you, but Pena is suddenly becoming one of my favorite actors now. His acting is so hilarious and entertaining it feels like Luis disguised himself as a hotel manager while using “Terrence” as a fake name. Thanks, Ant-Man 🤣! As for Ken Jeong’s character, he was very funny as well whenever he was on screen. He reminds me of... DEEP WANG, DEEP WANG, DEEP WANG.
Spike was really good as well, but I wished he had more screen time. Butch and the cat gang were good as well, and the Droopy cameo was unexpected but perfect. Nice callback, Tim Story!
So, yeah... I love this movie. It has everything I liked about it, and it is definitely a tremendous love letter to all the Tom and Jerry fans. Sure, it isn’t perfect, but it is a massive improvement over the original film. I give this an 11/10! If you dislike this film, I respect your opinion. People really need to take off their nostalgia goggles, and give this film a chance. Now, there’s nothing wrong with nostalgia in general, but you can’t let it cloud your judgement especially when it comes to film and TV show entertainment. View it from a different perspective and see how it is like for you. Give it a shot, alright?
See ya!
I haven't seen it.
Huh... someone who loves this movie.
In my thoughts, I haven't seen the original film, but i'm cool with Tom and Jerry speaking, so...
And I'm not sure if I'll check it out or not.
5474880
I recommend watching it. You might like it. 😉
5474881
It’s your calling, Leo. I won’t stop you.
5474919
I did watch all the slapstick moments on YouTube.
Still may keep the idea of watching it in mind.
5474919
Can do.
Seeing this review has made me all-the-more excited to see this movie and review it myself at some point.
5480312
I’m glad.
My review on this movie is posted and ready for viewing and feedback, in case you're interested.
5488774
I’m happy I’m not the only one who loved this.
5488783
Thank you.
I also posted my review on another movie, which is completely unrelated to Tom and Jerry.
5488787
So I just finished re-watching the movie, and it’s still pretty great!
However, the only things I didn’t like in the film were the acting of Chloe Grace Moretz and Butch being portrayed as a gangster instead of the talented, sassy ladies-cat he’s always been in the original cartoon. Other than that, the movie still holds up well. Nonetheless, I will lower the score from an 11/10 to a 9/10. It’s only fair since it’s impossible for me to hate it.
5641552
I understand.
Having recently rewatched this movie not too long ago, I will say this:
Not only is it still as fun as I remembered it being, but it's also still one of the very few in which I was able to tolerate Ken Jeong and thought he gave a decent performance.