Tom & Jerry Review

 

Tom & Jerry is a live-action/computer animated slapstick comedy based on the iconic cartoons characters of the same name. The movie is produced by Warner Animation Group, Turner Entertainment Co., and The Story Company and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Tom & Jerry is written by Kevin Costello and directed by Tim Story.

The story is after getting kicked out of their home Tom & Jerry have decided to go their separate ways. Sometime later we see that Jerry has taken residents in a hotel and has been causing trouble for the staff, who are already stressed out because they're helping prepare for the biggest wedding of the century. Soon Tom is hired by the hotel to put a stop to Jerry's mischief. But it seems they may have to put their rivalry aside for a moment when they under cover a conspiracy involving the hotel manager.

Initial Reaction

At first I was debating with myself if I should see/review this movie. Not because I don't like Tom & Jerry I just wasn't all that interested in seeing a movie about them. Hell, I don't even pay any attention to their direct-to-video movies I see on the shelves at either Family Video (which is sadly no longer in Ohio) or at Walmart. It also didn't help that their last theatrical movie to put it lightly wasn't very good. But after sometime I decided to give the movie a shot.

Cons

My real issue with the movie is there really didn't seem to be a balance between Tom & Jerry and the human characters. It almost felt like at one point we had more focus on the human characters than Tom & Jerry and vice versa.

Middle Ground

Speaking of the human characters how are they you might be asking? I think they're fine. Seriously they're okay. I didn't have reasons to fully hate them nor did I have reasons to fully love them. Another mix bag was the song choices. Some scenes where there's a song playing in the background I kind of enjoyed. Then there are other times were it was just odd not bad just weird. Like the end credit song is a rap number...okay I guess.

Pros

One thing I'll give the movie credit for is it's humor. Sure there are some jokes that don't work but for a good portion of the film I found myself laughing. It also helps that unlike the 1992 film we get to see Tom & Jerry's slapstick at work. Another thing to like about the movie is the animation. It's not only very colorful but it's also moves very smoothly. It's very easy on the eyes as well. I should also give them credit for going the animated route with this movie because if they had got full blown live-action I don't think those scene where Tom and Jerry are beating each other up would've gotten a positive feedback. The last thing I'll give Tom & Jerry credit for is I felt as though the filmmakers did a good job doing this hybrid style. No it's not going to be considered an achievement in film like it was with Who Framed Roger Rabbit but they did a fantastic job mashing these two things (animation & live-action) together.

Tom & Jerry isn't a movie that I think should be getting all of the negative press that it's getting. It's just an okay movie and by the end of the day I think that's what we all want if the film isn't 100% amazing. The movie has a good jokes, nice animation, and the hybrid between animation and live-action worked. Some of the songs choices were odd and the human characters are decent at best. The only real issue I had with Tom & Jerry was there really didn't seem to be balance between them and the human characters all that much.

My final rating is Okay.

So yeah, if you're curious about this movie sure watch it. But you don't have to see it right away. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, March 4th for my A Look Back at review of 1988's Coming to America. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.