By: Kevin Jordan
Sorry, grandpa.
Before we get to my son’s thoughts about Tom and Jerry, I’m going to weigh in a bit. When I was a kid, whenever we went to my grandparents’ house, we watched Tom and Jerry cartoons with my grandpa. It was the best part of the visit and I looked forward to it every time. Finding out they made a feature length Tom and Jerry movie made me wince and I am almost certain my grandpa rolled over in his grave. And to top it off, they made it a hybrid of animation and live action (think Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). Blech.
My friend put it perfectly right before we started watching it with our three kids – “I just hope it is watchable.” The kids seemed to like it, but they were purely entertained for the same reason I was when I was kid – Tom and Jerry smashing each other. For me, watchable is giving it too much credit. This was a terrible movie with terrible acting, terrible dialogue, and a terrible plot. It was painful watching Chole Grace Moretz crap her way through this movie as the lead actor. It was painful watching Michael Pena battle through a thankless, soulless, and decidedly unfunny role, the whole time clearly thinking “at least I was in two Marvel movies.” It was painful watching.
The good news is you don’t have sit in a theater with your kids and endure this heap. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Warner Brothers decided to release all of their 2021 films on HBO Max. So, you can just turn it on, give the kids some popcorn, and go do anything else for two hours. As I said, the kids seemed to like it. So, here is what my kid thought about it.
Have you ever seen a Tom and Jerry cartoon?
Yes. At Disney World at the Sci-Fi restaurant at Hollywood Studios.
Oh yeah. Did you think it was funny?
A little.
Since you were familiar with Tom and Jerry, what were you expecting from the movie?
I was expecting them to fight.
Were you right?
Yes. Definitely. I mean, obviously, it’s Tom and Jerry and they always fight.
What was the story in the movie?
Tom and Jerry. I don’t know how to explain. It’s Tom and Jerry. It’s basically a very long episode.
But there had to be a story more than Tom and Jerry fight.
So there’s this person who quit her job, then worked at this tower hotel in NYC next to Central Park.
Who was the person?
I forget her name, but I think it was like…I dunno. I forget her name.
Kayla?
Oh yeah. That’s what it was. Not like Terrance.
Does all of the movie take place in the hotel?
Yes. Well, most of it. Some of it takes place in Central Park.
What is happening in the hotel?
Chaos.
What kind of chaos?
Animal tornado.
What is an animal tornado?
It’s where Tom and Jerry go dun-nun-nun *rolling around on the floor* and it creates this tornado that sucks people in it?
What does Kayla have to do with Tom and Jerry?
Kayla helps Tom find the mouse, a.k.a. Jerry to stop having the chaos. But they still don’t get along because Jerry is a smart little fellow.
So the whole story is Kayla just trying to stop Tom and Jerry from fighting?
Uh huh. And there’s this one couple that is trying to marry in a giant ceremony and they got elephants. But Jerry is a mouse and elephants are afraid of mice, so bum-bum-bum. You never want to have something too fancy.
Was the whole movie animated?
Partially live action and partially animation. The animals were all animation, but the humans and New York City were live action.
Did you like that mix or would you prefer the whole movie be animated?
I would rather the whole be animated.
How would that make the movie better?
It would probably be the same because it would have all the same action and story.
What did you like about the movie?
I mean, I like Tom and Jerry. I like that they were in New York and I like the characters. The acting was a little *making a face* meh. Meh. Meh.
Besides the acting, is there anything else in the movie you didn’t like?
Not really.
What did you think of Michael Pena’s character, the hotel event manager? (The guy from Spider-Man).
He has some good lines. He’s one of the good actors in that movie.
Did he have any funny lines?
Nah. He doesn’t really have any funny lines.
Seems like kind of a waste.
Yeah, but at least he was a good character.
In summary, what did you think about the movie?
Pretty good. Some parts were, if the movie was this cup and it was the max, it would be at this line right here. So, like seventy or eighty percent.
Ha. Ok. Any last thing you want to say about it before the rating?
Uh. Kids would like it. I think little kids would laugh a lot if they watched it.
Rating: I would ask for four dollars back because it could have been a little better and I don’t know where the hotel came from. In the episodes, they were in a house.
