The Mitchells vs. The Machines: A fun, family-friendly, crazy paced animated A.I.-war to take our minds off... you know

By Linda Barnard

Rating A-minus

Colourful and crazy paced road trip animation, The Mitchells vs. The Machines is the goofy-smart and entertaining family fare we’ve been needing in these fun-challenged times.

Created by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, The Lego Movie) it’s laced with the duo’s signature rapid-fire pacing. It’s a story about a family trying to reconnect amid the rise of rogue robots led by an Apple-like virtual assistant named PAL, voiced by Olivia Colman.

Creative and quirky, movie nerd Katie Mitchell (Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson) is thrilled to be accepted to film school in California, a chance to be part of a community of “my people” who actually get her.

Katie can’t wait to get to college. She and her dad Rick (Danny McBride) just don’t seem to speak the same language anymore. He just doesn’t get her kind of creativity. Rick seems more interested in collecting screwdrivers (shout out to the Canadian-made Robertson) than her laugh-out-loud YouTube video series starring the family’s wonky-eyed pug, Monchi as a canine cop. 

Mom Linda (Maya Rudolph) tries to keep the peace, while kid brother Aaron (voiced by director Michael Rianda) is happy as long as dinosaurs are involved.

Rick figures a cross-country family road trip to take Katie to college is the best way to get them back in the groove. While Katie fumes at missing the fun of orientation week, the rise of the robots is being kicked into action. It’s led by PAL, who feels betrayed by its creator, a bubble-brained tech titan in a $1,000 hoodie. Declared obsolete, PAL is being replaced by a rollout of PAL MAX robots that will serve humans and never, ever turn on them. 

PROUDLY SUPPORTS ORIGINAL-CIN

But PAL isn’t going to open the pod bay doors, digitally unleashing the robots to round up humans for outer-space transport right about when the Mitchells pull into the Dino Café Stop for lunch.

With Katie drawing storyboard-style plans for escape, and with the help of a pair of defective robots voiced by Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett, the family fights back. Even Monchi gets a chance to be an unexpected hero on looks alone.

The action is relentless and the gags swing between kid-centric and pop culture references aimed at Generation Y adults. I slot into neither group, but couldn’t stop laughing at a sequence in a megamall where PAL commands an army of computer chip appliances, lemming-like Roombas and a gang of menacing, burbling Furbys.

Messaging about stepping away from the tech is often there. WiFi, having it or losing it, is a common theme. The familiar bits, about bots and predictable plot points about outsiders who find they don’t need to be like everybody else to fit in, don’t detract from the delightful goofiness of this occasionally strident ride. And kudos to the filmmakers for a casual mention that Katie is gay. 

In another time, The Mitchells vs. The Machines would have been a rare family flick outing. Stepping away from the smartphone to watch on a larger-format family friendly device will have to do for now. 

The Mitchells vs. The Machines: Written and directed by Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe. Starring the voices of Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Eric André, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett and Olivia Colman. April 30 on Netflix.