Tom & Jerry Movie Review - An Okayish Cat-And-Mouse Game

Tom & Jerry is an average film that needed better writing.

Tom and Jerry were a big part of our childhood. My sister and I were fans. The buffoonery of the cat and the mouse and their violent infliction never made me laugh but kept me amused. The whole cartoon was based on their chase and attempts to outweigh each other, using the tool of brutality. The show worked well within that 20-minute timeframe. Then came the movies featuring extended runtime and a dip in quality. How can you stretch a gag filled with pounding for 90 minutes or more? I think the keyword for the answer lies in the sentence itself - by stretching. Tom and Jerry continued to hit-and-run while the plot beat itself to death.

Tim Story, the man behind Fantastic Four and Ride Along films, does not redeem the earlier films. He, too, follows the same formula of trapping Tom and Jerry within a forgettable screenplay. Story sets the story in New York City among a bunch of human characters. There is Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz), who uses deceit to land a job at the Royal Gate Hotel. Inside this hotel, we have Mr. Dubros (Rob Delaney), the manager and the owner of the majestic hotel. Chef Jackie (Ken Jeong) and the Bell Girl named Joy (Patsy Ferran) are two of the most eccentric characters in the entire movie. Finally, we have the event manager named Terence (Michael Peña). What event is he managing, you ask? The wedding of Ben (Colin Jost) and Preeta (Pallavi Sharda), who are...rich! As screwball comedies go, all these people end up at the same hotel to complicate the events of the narrative.

I was not expecting high brow entertainment from Tom & Jerry, and I didn't get one. The film, nevertheless, succeeded on rare occasions. As I summon my memories of the show on Cartoon Network, all I could remember are the chases that had nothing more than running and slamming. They were so chaotic. In Story's film, two sequences stand out: one takes place inside a hotel room where both the creatures go from wall to wall with a certain rhythm while another transpires on the streets like a high-octane chase sequence straight out of an action film. The reason they stick out is that they are executed with a sense of choreography. There is excitement in the mayhem, making you wish for a 20-minute segment containing well-executed chases instead of a full-blown mediocrity spanning 101 minutes.

Having said that, I still didn't come out hating Tom & Jerry. At least, not with the intensity shown by some major critics. The film reaches its lowest point whenever it tries borrowing jokes from the series. Its plot runs on a life-support system, and the characters are over-the-top cardboard cutouts. Still, within their respective spaces, they all manage to do their work wonderfully. Tom and Jerry do what they do best. Moretz and Peña make themselves likeable even when their characters are far from endearing. They both indulge in mendacious malpractice, yet I didn't develop a sour taste towards them. This could be because I didn't, even for a second, take anything in the film seriously. I can understand where the negative reception is coming from. Tom & Jerry is a cartoon made for the kids, and that criteria naturally extends to this film. Given how it rewards deceptive behavior, maybe that could have annoyed the viewers. Adults can brush it off as fantasy, but what about minors with immature psychology? Perhaps, sit down with your children for moral explanations after watching the movie.

Find Me On:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/vikasonorous

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vimovies123/

Email - vikasy199@gmail.com