TOM AND JERRY
2021, 101 minutes, Colour.
Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Jordan Bolger, Rob Delaney, Patsy Ferrn, Palarvi Sharda, Colin Jost, Ken Jeong, voices of Bobby Cannavale, Lil Rel Howery, Tim Story.
Directed by Tim story.
Tom and Jerry look as sprightly as ever up there on the big screen in 2021. They are great advertisement for Stayin’ Alive!
Nostalgia reminds this reviewer that he saw Jerry dancing with Gene Kelly back in 1945 in Anchors Aweigh and, in 1953, Jerry swimming with Esther Williams in Dangerous when Wet! The IMDb tells us that William Hanna Joseph Barbera created the Tom and Jerry cartoons in 1940 – making this reviewer a few months older than they! They were probably very popular with the great grandparents of star, Chloe Grace Moretz. (Later Hanna and Barbera were responsible for many, many, many cartoons including Scooby Doo, the Flintstones, the Smurf’s.)
But, enough of the past where their continual feuding, chases, tactics, slapstick violence, kept us entertained and wanting more. But, that is how they come across in our contemporary world. No ageing here!
One of the attractions of this film is that, while it is an animated cartoon, it is also a live-action film, set in New York City, streets, hotels, parks, a recognisable world. And, to cheer us up even more, Tom and Jerry are not the only animated characters. There are some singing pigeons to open the film. There is a ferocious large bulldog (marvellous for chases and creating a visual mini-tornado), a preening pretty cat, peacocks – and, surprisingly taking part in a wedding in the Royal Gate Hotel, a ferocious tiger and two elephants, delighting in pretty butterflies but alarmed and frantic because of a mouse!
The storyline, which one reviewer expressed disappointment at because it was so unsubtle – but, who wants or needs subtlety in this kind of comedy adventure! (He also expressed disapproval that the highlighting of the huge interior dome in the hotel, glass galore, signalled that it was sure to be destroyed – isn’t that what signalling means and intends, that we are looking forward to that moment when there will be the huge crash and smash!). With Tom and Jerry pursuing each other, memories go back to the energetic chases of the Roadrunner and Wily E Coyote and other memories of slapstick enjoyment.
Which means, then, that there are enough hijinks, cat and mouse games, pursuits, one upmouseship, cartoon environments, to keep the younger audiences amused. With the wedding story, something to occupy adult attention. And, interest in the other storyline where Kayla, Chloe Grace Moretz, is sacked from her job, pretends to be an events expert, has the gift of the situation exploiter, gets the job, to the displeasure of Terence, Michael Peña, the actual events manager who explains that he has clawed his way to the middle! They both have to rid the hotel of the menace of Jerry, employing Tom, fiascos all round.
The event is a lavish wedding, which gets lavisher and lavisher as the film goes on. But, there are some nice admissions of irresponsibility at the end, some pleasant reconciliations and, after an extraordinary New York chase, Jerry on a drone, Tom on a skateboard equipped with Wi-Fi?, pursue a limousine to make sure that the bride comes back for a simple and happy wedding celebration.
And, if you are eager to see the most elaborate wedding smash and schmozzle, everything crashing down (contributed to by Ken Jeong as an angry chef), book now!
1. The popularity of Tom and Jerry? From the 1940s? The range of cartoons? Acting with MGM stars? Cartoons over the decades, some updating, television? And now their feature film?
2. Computer animation, Tom and Jerry as they looked and sounded in the past, features, characters, behaviour, chases, conflicts…?
3. A live-action story, the insertion of the animated characters, the singing pigeons, the peacocks, the bulldog, the pet cat, the tiger, the elephants, the butterflies…?
4. The live-action story, New York City, the grand hotel, the interiors, the streets, Central Park?
5. The musical score, the songs?
6. The live-action story, Kayla, not successful at her work, sacked, at the hotel for a free meal, the encounter with the applicant, pretending to interview her, taking the resume, the interview with the manager, Terence and his reaction? Her explanations, living in, uniform, doing the job?
7.
8. The live-action story, the celebrities and their wedding, the preparations? Preeta and Ben, the different backgrounds, Indian? Money no expense? The preparation of the décor, the scenes in the kitchen and the chef, the drinks, the growing extravagance, the idea of the elephants? Preacher and her finding it too much, losing her ring, Kayla returning it? Ben, somewhat dumb, his not holding back?
9. Tom and Jerry in the story, the preliminaries of chases, Tom pretending to be blind and playing the piano, Jerry dancing, the money? The pursuits and defiance? Tom crashing into Kayla? Jerry and his going to the hotel, up into the attic, making his room luxurious? Tom and his pursuit? Kayla and her commission to get rid of the mouse, the cheese and traps, Jerry leaving the note about traps, her hiring Tom? The range of slapstick comedy in the pursuits? Tom getting rid of Jerry, Jerry returning?
10. The manager, his approval of Kayla, the reputation of the hotel? Terence, not liking Kayla, not liking Tom? Tom and Jerry picked up by the animal welfare, going to the centre, seeing the Street Cats Tom tangled with earlier? Terence and his visit, his doubletalk, to each of them, their being released? Terence and his being fired? Revenge?
11. The shambles of the wedding, the elephants, upset by a mouse, Tom pursuing Jerry, the cake and the chef smashing it, the preparation with the glass dome and its collapsing?
12. Preeta, leaving the airport, Ben upset? Kayla, taking over, promising a good wedding, the drone and Jerry on the drone, Tom and Ben’s skateboard with the Wi-Fi?, the pursuit of the limousine, a different car chase?
13. The return to Central Park, the more simple wedding? Kayla and her confession of the truth and taking responsibility? The manager pleased with her? Terrance and his job? Everybody at the wedding?
14. Tom and Jerry, the success of the film – and possibly some more?
