The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): April 30, 2021

8.0	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 283 Ratings

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MATMMay 29, 2021

If I had been in a different mood, I might have appreciated the humor more. As it is, “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” was an adequate movie that tries really hard, so that is worth something. I give it a C, if you've already seen the best,If I had been in a different mood, I might have appreciated the humor more. As it is, “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” was an adequate movie that tries really hard, so that is worth something. I give it a C, if you've already seen the best, but you insist on watching a movie, try this one out.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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sebastianaliMay 15, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Mitchells vs The Machines is not as good as many said it is. Sure, the animation is outstanding (and that must be admitted), and in the end the movie tries to convey a very good message. And that's all the good honestly, now I will say why I have not enjoyed it so much.
The film is full of plot holes, many of them some people could justify it by saying that it is a comedy film, but being comedy does not justify that there is no internal logic. Examples: The Mitchell family dog is supposed to cause robot failures by not being able to distinguish between whether it is a dog or a cow ... Are you telling me that the Mitchell family is the only family that has a dog? The invasion could not have been successful. That already leaves the plot inconsistent from the beginning!
Another may be when Linda fights with the robots at the end of the movie. Many situations like these are super forced just to complete the plot and force comedy situations into it. If comedy were the core of the film, and there was only that, AND comedy was GOOD, it would be more or less forgivable. But not! The film as I said before, tries to convey a message, and there are several serious situations to reflect this. Personally, the film does not have a good balance between comedy and story, and both elements end up falling, since both the comedy and the story itself is super cliche, forced and predictable. The best way to describe this movie would be: a festival of memes. Because it is what it is, a humor that is no longer funny (and I think it never was imo). This movie doesn't know what it wants to be in that sense! They constantly expose you to a serious situation, and then a cliche joke, and so on for most of the plot.
Don't get me wrong, not everything is bad in this movie. But is far from being a masterpiece. I think is mediocre at worst and ok at best.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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mrteletuiMay 2, 2021

Overall a mediocre movie, it has a good background but cringey memes of 2012 spoiled the good parts of the movie.

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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SwegJuceMay 13, 2021

Like what many already said, it can be at times over-the-top, cliché, and occasionally cringe. It's not very deep either. The movie exagerates how "bad" the parents are supposed to be percieved. This can be hard to relate to for people whoLike what many already said, it can be at times over-the-top, cliché, and occasionally cringe. It's not very deep either. The movie exagerates how "bad" the parents are supposed to be percieved. This can be hard to relate to for people who actually come from real toxic families. Much of the "comedy" relies on exagerated animations and dialogue. Anytime a moment is truly funny, it is immediately followed by a cringe/stupid moment that completely cancels it out. So much potential, but ends up being one of the many mediocre animation films released each year.

Oh, and I still can't get over the voice acting for the little brother.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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PsychopathicTimJun 9, 2021

I HATE this film at times, and then I LOVE this at times... THEN I HATE IT AGAIN, THEN I LOVE IT AGAIN! The film flip flops between being good and bad for me so much it's jarring. This is one of the most mixed feelings I've had for any recentI HATE this film at times, and then I LOVE this at times... THEN I HATE IT AGAIN, THEN I LOVE IT AGAIN! The film flip flops between being good and bad for me so much it's jarring. This is one of the most mixed feelings I've had for any recent movie. I can tell there was clearly passion put into the making of this film, and the art direction and camera work is good and really professional. But then the voice over work is shawty; where characters sound like they're in a bubble and then sound perfectly normal. If it was a story decision, then moments like the rooftop scene wouldn't sound like they were recorded in a house room.

The biggest problem I have with this movie, and I'll get this out of the way now, is that for all the amount of times the characters SAY they're the "most dysfunctional family ever", the Mitchells are probably the most functional, understanding, and communicative family I have ever seen put on screen... The mother cares for everybody in the family, the son is supportive of his sister, the dog gets along with everyone, and the father, for all his flaws, literally wants nothing more than to connect with his family through nature and family bonding. I think the one who I like out of all the Mitchells is the dad, he catches a lot of heat from his family but literally just wants to do the right thing by them. But, for all this seem good on the surface, it's bad for establishing character conflict. We are only ever told that their's conflict between Katie and her father, Rick, but the closest we ever get to seeing it are several very mild instances of arguments that, quite honestly, felt so minuscule to get worked up over, they didn't even feel like character conflicts. Katie tries to show him something cool, and Rick tries to show her something cool about nature, and she walks away miserably. Another time, Rick gets gives his opinion on Katie's future and how he feels that she needs a backup plan if things go south, which he APOLOGIZES FOR IMMEDIATELY, he knows what he's saying is stupid, but no, instead of trying to understand him, Katie takes this as a sign of aggression. All this leads to an accident, where in the heat of the moment, Rick tries to take Katies laptop to see her full video, and he accidentally breaks it. Notice that I said "ACCIDENTALLY", because he meant well but caused an accident. If the accident was caused by, lets say - for instance - Rick being more of an a-hole, and then arguing with his daughter about how she spends way too much time on her phone and calls her selfish, and she fires back calling him a deadbeat father who doesn't understand her. Then it evolves into an even more serious argument - her being lgbt - she tells him she's never understood him, and he tells her he doesn't want her to change. Then, he takes the laptop because he says he thinks it'll be good for her to not have it, then the tug of war between the two of them happens... and then... like before, the laptop gets broken.

To me, this is a much more interesting way of establishing conflict in the characters. She want's to be herself, but he wants her to be who she was before, then the tug of war with the laptop symbolizes their broken bond as father and daughter. With the previous scene, all we have is a father and daughter not agreeing on the OPINIONS about what life direction she should take, and the father is a blubbering idiot. And that's all establishes in this scene, that the father is an idiot. But with this new scene, it adds more weight to the film, bringing up some serious topics that are relatable and, when done right, makes the audience more engaged than ever before.

The reason I wanted to bring her being lgbt to the forefront is because it was such an insignificant thing to the movie. And what I mean by that is that having that be basically/kinda/sort of revealed at the end of the movie (with obvious hints at the beginning) does little to effect the plot, which I feel is missed potential. It's much more relatable to have that aspect of her be a plot point the dad needs to get over in addition to the already established "Katie needs to get along with her dad" plot point.

Wish I could say more, but can't because of Metacritic's max word limit. I'll say that I hated the tone flip flopping from comedy to seriousness rapidly in scenes, the serious and comic parts need to be cut, and need room to breathe. But the serious moments that land, land very very well. I love the dynamics between the family on the road trip, even if it feels forced that Katie is just "fine" with the road trip, and still uses her phone. The product placement is jarring, cut most of it out. And cut down compilation score, use more classic score and keep some pop music.

This film is a huge mixed bag(5), almost a 4 actually, a lot of missed potential and a lot to be desired. But their is clearly passion put into this, and that is admirable.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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dermacAug 21, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It has great moments and I liked the characters, but this switching styles thing just made the movie unenjoyable and hard to follow.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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