Tim Story’s new incarnation of Tom & Jerry has arrived in cinemas and I was lucky enough to be invited along to an early screening of the film and to my daughter’s delight I had a family pass so once again Alyx accompanied me to her second Press Screening.
Heading in as someone who knows almost next to nothing about Tom & Jerry apart from a very vague memory of a single scene from my childhood, I didn’t really know what to expect or if it was suitable for my almost 5 year old daughter.
Well it’s a bit of a strange one for sure, essentially this film could be part of any animated creature franchise Warner decided, the main plot isn’t really about the game of Cat & Mouse at all (no pun intended) but it turns out it’s about a rich, famous couple attempting to get married in a hotel.
Tom & Jerry are still kind of the centre focus for the most part but they are heavily involved in this other story as the hotel does not want to have a mouse problem. This really is a massive detriment to the film as a whole as this marriage plot takes up such a large portion of the film when it should really be about just Tom & Jerry, I’m sure they could chuck them into an environment and fill many run times with the classic chaotic shenanigans they are known for.
For what it’s worth when the film is focused on the titular characters constant chase it does work for the most part, with animation style being completely on point and working well, we just needed more of that and less of boring rich people’s wedding.
In the end even my daughter ended up rating it 5/10 (yes she loves rating anything from films to food) which is quite low for her!
Thanks to Universal Pictures Australia & Warner Brothers Australia for the invite.
