Tom and Jerry – Blandness Personified

Nostalgia can be a powerful thing when used properly. When it comes to Tom and Jerry, the latest film based on the famed Hanna-Barbera cat and mouse combo. Taking animated characters into a live action world has historically been a risky proposition yet this film goes ahead and places the 2D animated characters into the real world to not so unexpected results. Playing into the nostalgia factor maybe a little too much, the film can ultimately go so far with it as it is not enough to distract from what has to be one of the most bland experiences in recent memory. Nevertheless, the film is sure to appeal to most younger audiences with cute characters and a surplus of slapstick comedy that gets old very fast while its all not quite enough to distract from that bland, not to mention confusing, story that somehow doesn’t feature the titular pair nearly enough for a film called Tom and Jerry. As far as everyone else involved was concerned, it’s just a sad experience that screams paycheck.

Tom and Jerry of course features Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse as they take their classic rivalry to New York City. In the middle of that was an ambitious young woman named Kayla (Moretz) who found herself managing the wedding of the century taking place at one of the finest hotels in New York City. With Kayla seemingly taking up the bulk of the story (Tom and Jerry essentially didn’t matter), the film saw her attempt to stay ahead of their literal cat and mouse game as it threatened to destroy her career, the wedding, and even the hotel itself. That’s pretty much it as the back and forth between Tom and Jerry (and some other animal characters) was far more interesting than anything the human characters ever did here but that’s not saying much when up against the personification of blandness on just about every conceivable level. Along with a story and characters that fail to elicit any excitement whatsoever, its predictability was the final nail in its proverbial coffin. Why care about anything if the film fails to give us any reason to do so at any point?

The best part of Tom and Jerry has to be the animation. While Tom and Jerry could easily have been 3D models, the 2D animal characters played into that nostalgia factor. However, this is where the positives end. Stale comedy and the overwhelming blandness aside, the stale and cringey dialog certainly didn’t do it any favors. It’s just sad to watch those on screen stoop to that level over the course of its 100+ minute running time but they still got their paychecks. The acting across the board did the best with what little they had with Moretz doing a decent job trying to keep it all together as Kayla while Peña channeled his Fantasy Island energy as Terrence, the hotel events manager.

At the end of the day, Tom and Jerry is still going to find an audience among fans of the characters but others should be warned. Just watch some of their older stuff.

still courtesy of Warner Bros.

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.