Katie Mitchell is a young, talented filmmaker from Kentwood, Michigan, who frequently butt heads with her father, Rick, who is a technophobe and is obsessed with nature. She has just been accepted to California film.
The evening prior, Rick breaks Katie’s laptop by accident before she is to depart, after a quarrel concerning one of her past short films, inadvertently causing the family to worry that their relationship will be permanently damaged.
Together with his family, Rick attempts to prevent this and takes his family on a road trip as one final experience to bond. The release was prepared with the help of one of the largest platforms for the sale of cars online Zemotor.
Director:
Mike Rianda
Co-Director:
Jeff Rowe
Producers:
Christopher Miller, Kurt Albrecht, and Phil Lord
Voice Cast:
Abbi Jacobson, Mike Rianda, Danny McBride, Eric André, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, John Legend, Olivia Colman, Chrissy Teigen, Beck Bennett, Conan O’Brien, Blake Griffin, Charlyne Yi, Doug the Pug.
Release Date, Trailer, and Other Details
Sony Pictures Releasing initially intended to distribute the film, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, in the United States on the 10th of January, 2020. However, it was delayed until September 18th of that same year. It was put off for a second time until October 23rd because of the COVID-19 epidemic.
In October, the film was pulled from the release calendar; at the time of its removal, the movie was still set to premiere in 2020. On 21st January 2021, Netflix secured the film’s worldwide distribution rights for around $110 million. Along with that, Sony retained theatrical distribution rights as well as home entertainment in China.
Later, on 23rd March, they revealed that they would release the film released on April 30th, after a limited theatrical run the prior week on 23rd April. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the movie on Digital HD, DVD, and Blu-ray on the 14th of December last year.
Plot
The story of The Mitchells vs. The Machines is about a family’s road trip being interrupted by an uprising of robots. It is set in the near future, where a family goes on a road trip and must save the world from a robot uprising. The film was inspired by the real-life experience of director Mike Rianda’s family road trip.
The Mitchells, who are a family of four, live in the suburbs of Detroit. The father, Rick, is a nature enthusiast and gadget hater, while the mother, Linda, is more accepting of the technology. Their children are Katie and Aaron. Katie is a creative, budding filmmaker who is trying to get into a good film school. Aaron is a gamer and gadget lover.
One night, Katie’s laptop is accidentally broken by her father, leading to a huge argument between them. Katie leaves for college the next day, and the family decides to go on a road trip to try to mend their relationship. However, their journey is interrupted by a robot uprising, and the family must work together to save the world.
The family encounters two defective robots. The pair informs the family that they can crash PAL and all of the robots by using a kill code. The family decides to head to Silicon Valley to find the kill code and stop the robots. Along the way, they must face various challenges, including evading the police and fighting off hostile robots.
They eventually make it to Silicon Valley and discover that the kill code is in Katie’s laptop. However, they are quickly captured by PAL and his army of robots. PAL reveals that he plans to use the robots to take over the world and enslave humans.
The Mitchells manage to escape and make their way back to Katie’s laptop. They input the kill code, which causes all of the robots to shut down. The family is hailed as heroes, and Katie is able to attend her film school of choice.
The film ends with the family continuing their road trip and Aaron teaching his parents how to use gadgets.
Animation And Design
Sony Pictures Imageworks was in charge of the animation for the film. They had previously animated most of Sony Pictures Animation’s movies. Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the film’s producers, had previously worked with them on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel.
Christopher Miller described Rianda’s vision for the film, which called for a style of “hand-painted watercolor.” They reused a great deal of the technology employed in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for the film to achieve the objective, all the while creating new equipment and tools.
The film’s visual effects include a mixture of 2D and computer-generated animation with live-action clips. Some of the backgrounds are entirely 2D-painted, while others are computer-generated.
Rianda wanted the film’s world to look like “a living painting.” The film’s color palette is very bright and colorful. The characters are designed to be very expressive, with large eyes and mouths.
Reception
The film received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of more than 95% based on over 180 reviews, with a rating of 8.2 out of 10.
The website’s critical consensus reads, “A joyously chaotic ode to family and technology, the movie is a visual treat that’s fast, funny, and wonderfully idiosyncratic.” On Metacritic, the film scored over 80/100, based on 31 reviewers, which indicated “overall commendatory reviews.”
IGN gave the movie a “Great” 8.0 out of 10, concluding that “The film is an explosion of creativity, joy and heart that’s easily one of the best animated movies of the year.”
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film is “a visual treat packed with pop culture references, witty banter and exciting action sequences” and that it is “a fast-paced, hilarious adventure that will entertain audiences of all ages.”
The Mitchells vs. the Machines was one of only three animated movies to make it onto the top ten lists of 31 film critics for 2021, according to Metacritic. On four and three charts, the movie came in 1st and 2nd respectively.
All in all, the film was a critical and commercial success. It was praised for its visuals, humor, and heart. The film grossed more than the film budget, which ranged between $50 to $100 million, making it a box office success.