Migration
Some of you may have noticed that animated feature films hitting theaters this month have had an avian theme. First, there was “The Boy and the Heron,” which is Hayao Miyazaki’s latest movie and might be his last if he decides to retire, it would also be a good way for him to end one of the most amazing careers in cinema history. Then came “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” a follow up to Aardman Animations’ 2000 classic that has its moments but can’t help but suffer by comparison with its near perfect predecessor. Now we have “Migration,” made by Illumination Studios the company behind such franchises as “Despicable Me” “Minions” and this year’s mega smash “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
Unfortunately, “Migration” is so devoid of interest for anyone older than about 8 that it makes “Dawn of the Nugget” look like Miyazaki’s latest film by contrast. And I mean devoid. How devoid? I am going to refrain from using any bird-related puns in this review other than those because even they, tired and unoriginal though they may be, exhibit more wit and creativity than anything else on display here.
The story centers around the Mallards, a family of ducks comprising safety first dad Mack (Kumail Nanjiani), adventurous mom Pam (Elizabeth Banks), teen son Dax (Caspar Jennings), cute duckling daughter Gwen (Tresi Gazal) and grumpy Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito). They’ve never left their New England pond, mainly because Mack is afraid something will happen to them outside. But when another family of ducks including one Dax immediately develops a crush on (Isabela Merced) lands in their pond during a brief layover on their annual migration trip south to Jamaica, the rest of the Mallards egg on the initially reluctant Mack to break out of their collective rut and go south themselves.
The Mallards inevitably head in the wrong direction one assumes they’re rusty and soon find themselves lost in New York City, where they run into a gang of pigeons led by the cantankerous Chump (Awkwafina). As it happens, Chump knows a Jamaican parrot named Delroy (Keegan Michael Key) who can help them get south. But Delroy is currently caged up inside a trendy Manhattan restaurant as the pet of the owner head chef. The Mallards manage to free Delroy and try to make their way onward to Jamaica, encountering a requisite amount of wacky hijinks and exceedingly mild conflicts along the way as they are pursued relentlessly by the sinister Martin Yan wannabe chef, whose place must be doing pretty well if he’s able to afford his own private helicopter for this purpose.
And that’s about it. It’s a story so thin it could be a TV special produced by a franchise to bridge the gap between movies. That alone wouldn’t be surprising, but what is surprising is that Mike White wrote this yes, the same Mike White behind “School of Rock,” “Year of the Dog” and “The White Lotus” (and, yeah, he co wrote the even worse “The Emoji Movie”). And it’s even more shocking to see Benjamin Renner co directing, his previous films include such sly, delightful and visually inventive animated features as “Ernest & Celestine” and “The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales.”
You would think a movie combining those two talents would have at least some weirdness to speak of. But instead, their work here has resulted in a film (even its images are forgettable, except for two OK compositions in 2:35) that is blandly formulaic there’s no other way to put it in a manner that makes “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” look practically avant garde by comparison.
The most interesting thing about “Migration” is how much by coincidence it seems to touch on material from other bird based animated films happening now. At one point the Mallards have an odd encounter with a potentially dangerous heron (Carol Kane) that doesn’t follow along with Miyazaki but does feel like some kind of strange overlap. Then later there’s a bit where they come upon a bucolic duck farm that almost seems too good to be true, it does in fact hide something sinister. It’s almost exactly the main plot of “Dawn of the Nugget,” down to things we see in certain parts of the place. These three films were obviously made around the same time, so this must just be one of those great minds thinking alike situations although it is too bad those great minds were apparently too busy with their other projects to be here in person.
Small children might be reasonably distracted by this during its brief running time it’s bright and colorful, there’s lots of slapstick and the story is easy enough for them to follow without much trouble. But kids deserve more from their entertainment than that. The young ones being targeted by this movie are at an age when films really can be magical, and the best ones will stick with them forever. “Migration” will kill some time, but I bet those kids remember whatever their parents got them from the concession stand longer than anything they see on screen here.
For More Movies Visit Putlocker.