Tom & Jerry: The Movie – The BRWC. By Alif Majeed.

Tom and Jerry cartoons are one of those things that always felt bulletproof to criticisms, having left a lasting impression on several generations and counting. Now in my family, even though the wacky antics might have caused quite a bother for my parents worrying about their kids trying to emulate them, it was also one of their go-to moves to keep us occupied. During the middle of a heated argument among us siblings, everything comes to a standstill when these two were having a go at each other. 

So as the movie began, I realized the primary reason this movie exists is to try really hard to invoke nostalgia. Some of the gags are straight-up replicated from the cartoons which is not a problem or a complaint, as if you spot them, it significantly adds to the nostalgia factor. The film exists on the belief that it will make old fans of the cartoons reminisce about it while trying to win a few new ones along the way.

It succeeds to a large extent in the former, as old fans will surely enjoy their favorite cat-and-mouse duo’s welcome return. As for the latter, well, I’m not so sure.. For starters, for a movie titled Tom and Jerry, it is bizarre to see that the duo has virtually become part of the supporting cast in their film as the movie quickly changes focus to Chloe Grace Moretz’s character. She looks pretty ill at ease in the beginning and getting more comfortable as the movie progresses, which cannot be said about many of the other actors.

The cast in this film is a bit of a missed opportunity as they got some incredibly talented actors with some real comidic pedigree. Many of them spent most of the runtime awkwardly interacting with the animated characters. It makes little sense, as at least some of them had worked in multiple blockbuster movies before, which were pretty effects-laden, making you assume they will be used to this by now. 

And these are actors you don’t mind been given a free rein to do their own thing. But they are not helped by the fact that some dialogues really make you roll your eyes. Like for example, is giving social media platforms alternate names like Instabookface or tikitak still a gag? Maybe I wasn’t up for it, but am not too sure.

Another confusing thing is that the movie does not know whether it needs a villain or not. Like initially, it might seem like Michael Pena (who seriously has a thing against millennials here) is the designated man to hate but, the character keeps oscillating somewhere between the sleazy villain and the goofball Luis, his character from Antman.

It is also strange that the live-action and animation parts have been blended in awkwardly. When the movie focuses on the antics of Tom and Jerry, the film clicked for me. I caught myself smiling every time the dynamic duo was doing their thing and shrugging mildly many times, when the rest of the live-action characters took centre stage. 

The best summary I can say for this divide in the movie is my nephew, who watched the film with me. Despite his short attention span, he was having a whale of a time with the animated parts while trying hard to push us to leave while the actors were on screen.

It also almost works as a companion piece to Dunston Checks In (with its pesky animal nuisance and similar hotel setting), which worked as a live-action version of the original cartoons anyway.

There are parts of the movie that are bound to amuse you and even make you reminisce about your favourite Tom and Jerry gags. But binge-watching the cartoons might still be the best way to enjoy these characters.

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