Pros:
1.) The animation looks slick and smooth when placed into the real world. It reminds me so much of Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit that I would not be surprised if the filmmakers used similar or better animation techniques in order to make this movie happen. While there are times it needs work when these animated characters interact with live actors, this is top-notch animation in real life that I have ever seen.
2.) The best parts of the movie is when Tom and Jerry interact/fight with each other, especially when using real-life objects. While I have not seen many Tom & Jerry episodes when I was young, I do know that these two constantly fight each other, and it is entertaining. Add that the movie makes it look like they are interacting with actual objects/props, and it makes their fights look more genuine. There is only one moment where Jerry was caught in a trap that he could have easily escaped from, but Tom and Jerry’s fights are nice to watch.
3.) The one character I genuinely liked and felt sorry for throughout the movie was Terence (played by Michael Peña). While he is a bit of hard case, you can tell that he just wants to do his job and make everything perfect for the Royal Gate Hotel. He is not a bad guy; he is just too hard on other people. Unfortunately, the filmmakers reduced him to a cartoon villain for a while near the end of the second act, but other than Tom and Jerry, Terence was the only other interesting character to me.
Cons:
1.) While it is cool that all the animals are animated, I am not a fan that most of them can talk (even Tom sings at one point). I did look up that in the old cartoons, other animals do talk as well as Tom and Jerry in very few cases, but considering that the two main animals are silent throughout the movie, having other animals talk seems out of place to me. This might not be a problem for Tom & Jerry fans, but for me at least, it would have been better if none the animals talked and let their expressions and movements do the talking themselves.
2.) For a movie called Tom & Jerry (2021), this is more about Kayla (played by Chloë Grace Moretz) while Tom and Jerry are just sidelines. While Kayla herself is all right, I am sure we all came to see Tom and Jerry themselves, not some random person who wants an opportunity to work on a five-star hotel. It is a bit of problem when the movie is about someone other than the title characters *cough*Transformers*cough*.
3.) Let me give you a summary of this movie in one sentence: After Kayla fakes her resume to work in a five-star hotel, she hires Tom to stop Jerry from interfering with a wedding of a famous couple. By that sentence alone, tell me you know what is going to happen by the end of the movie…it is that predictable. If you have seen movies with a similar premise like that (i.e. Chicken Run, A Bug’s Life, How to Train Your Dragon), you know what to expect here.
Overall:
I did not watch much Tom & Jerry when I was young, but I do know them a little bit: a cat and a mouse hate and fight each other. I am sure there is more to it than that, but I will leave it to the fans to fill that out. Now that a movie about the two was released in 2021, does this enemy duo have what it takes to be entertaining on the big screen (or the small screen since it is also on HBO Max)? The answer is a resounding no. I can probably see that it may be more satisfying for Tom & Jerry fans, but to newcomers and casuals like me, it is like many other movies that have the same premise as this movie: a person fakes his/her application to a big business, and has to deal with a problem that only he/she can handle without revealing that he/she is a liar. I can tell it means well with its lesson and decent characters, but it has been done to death before, and if the filmmakers are willing to do a repeated storyline anyway, they have to do better than what this movie has shown me. After eighty years of a scuffle, Tom and Jerry are still at it again, and its business as usual.
4/10
benzeyeview 