The Mitchells vs. the Machines has some stunning animation, hilarious writing, relatable characters, and a good message, so I can definitely see why it was nominated for an Oscar. That being said, the film didn’t really reach me. There’s a fine line between “entertainingly madcap” and “annoyingly nutso” and I think the movie crossed into the wrong side for me a few times. (The howler monkey gag was funny for about ten seconds, then I just wanted them to move on.)
This may be a generational thing though. The style of Katie’s movies and animations, and the animations that appeared around her in crazy moments, isn’t something I like, but I’m a forty(censored) year old woman, I’m betting people younger than me like it a lot. Styles change and what’s trendy now with a lot of people isn’t always my thing, and that’s hardly the fault of the film.
I liked that Katie and her brother got along for the whole film; the sibling rivalry trope is pretty overdone, and seeing a sister and little brother who love and support each other was refreshing. The actor who voiced Aaron (who is also the director and co-writer) did a great job, though I felt like his voice sounded a little old for the character when I first heard it, but it grew on me.
I did find the Dad more annoying than funny most of the time, unfortunately. He had a good heart and was well animated and acted, it’s just the Clueless Dad Who Gets Everybody Into Trouble isn’t my favorite trope, but I never liked the National Lampoon’s Vacation movies either (I know, I obviously hate fun.)
I did love all of the scenes with the robots, though. The two goofy ones were hilarious, but the swooping dramatic scenes of thousands of robots flying in formation were breaktaking, and the newer, more deadly, version of the robots were stunning, especially the way they broke up and reformed, sometimes clawing their spikes into the ground terrifyingly fast. The designs of all the technological elements were perfect, and I loved how you could really see the scale of the triangular ships filled with captured humans.
But dear lord, the best thing in this movie was Olivia Colman. She absolutely nailed the role of the villain, and threw herself into every scene. (The bit where she was flopping around on the table in a blind rage was hands down my favorite scene in the movie. It was my favorite scene in several movies.) The animators did a brilliant job with her character too, taking what are essentially the simplest lines and making them fantastically expressive and ridiculously funny.
For the most part I think it was a well-created animated film, and props especially for featuring an LGBTQ main character. It’s got a tough fight against Encanto or Raya and the Last Dragon, but those two set the bar pretty high.