Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Mitchells vs. the Machines Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 19, 2021

It seems that they always come in pairs, and for 2021 it was the pairing of animated films that deal with the proliferation of artificial intelligence and its relation to mankind. In Ron's Gone Wrong, a defective robot befriends a boy who has no flesh and blood friends. In The Mitchells vs. the Machines, a dysfunctional family fights together to fend off the robot apocalypse but must overcome its own internal strife to do so. Ron is the sweeter film while The Mitchells vs. The Machines is the more involved and crammed with cinema stuff, but it works as an amalgamation of modern moviedom tied into mild social commentary on everything from family strife to technology's proliferation in the world.

Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) has long dreamed of attending film school. She fancies herself quit the accomplished amateur and she's eager to prove her worth and live her dream. But her dream doesn't necessarily match up with her father Rick's (voiced by Danny McBride) vision for her life. She needs real skills, he believes, and he's also something of a technophobe; that his daughter, never mind his wife Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph) and son Aaron (Mike Rianda), can barely stand not to have their faces in their devices causes him much consternation. When Rick and Katie have another fight the night before she's supposed to fly off to film school, he cancels her flight and packs the family in the old station wagon for a cross-country family trip. Katie isn't too excited by the prospect, but things take a turn for the interesting, and the surreal, and the deadly (to both the globe and to her dreams), when a major tech firm releases a new line of robotic helpers which turn on humanity with the intent of global domination. With the rest of the world imprisoned and set to be jettisoned into space, it's up to the Mitchells to save humanity from its would-be AI overlords.

The film is very busy, eager to cram in numerous references in a self-aware sort of way that at times threatens to get in the way of the central stories: the family's battle against the machines and the crumbled, but recoverable, relationship between Katie and her father. The former is the more creative avenue for the film, the latter a fairly bland and predictable arc that works well enough in isolation but doesn't advance long established narrative parameters for such family feuding. Still, the voice cast plays it well enough, with gusto and depth and heart, turning a fairly unwieldy and unimaginative story arc into a passably dramatic one that evolves over the course of the film.

The animation is excellent, blending the look of a traditional cartoon with cutting edge digital workmanship and various artsy overlays. It's enough to mask some of the plot deficiencies -- notably a stalling middle act and overstuffed finale -- and turn attention away from some of the overworked writing, though at times the animation itself becomes too bloated for its own good. Part of the issue is that the film works very well but tries so hard to be even more that what works loses some of its luster at the expense of amplifying its own ambitions. Something similar, but a little more grounded, might have played better.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As expected from a major studio and a high-end production, the 1080p transfer is a delight. The Mitchells vs. the Machines boasts first class definition and detail, yielding a wonderfully crisp, clean, and efficient animation presentation that excels in every shot, scene, and sequence. Viewers will enjoy superb clarity to character models, including more complex human features and smooth and streamlined robot features. The movie is crammed with all sorts of odds and ends location details and props, all of which are razor sharp and clean. Color output is dynamic as well, with big, bold, intensive colors leaping off the screen in every shot. One can only wonder what an HDR pass would have done for a theoretical UHD release, but as it is the Blu-ray delivers superb punch and tonal vitality to a very neutrally oriented palette. Contrast and temperature hold serve, whites are crisp and dynamic, and blacks are deep and true. There are no serious source blemishes or encode artifacts to worry about. This is an A-grade transfer from Sony.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Mitchells vs. the Machines features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack which doesn't always play up to par. It's a bit timid and reserved at reference volume, lacking authoritative push and the sort of excelling dynamics one would expect of a (non-Disney) action packed animation. While the track offers plenty of surround integration it can never quite push to that audio endgame of perfect balance of intensity and depth. It's timid and a little flat but workable as it is. Musical and action clarity are generally impressive, as is the sense of space. Dialogue is clear and maintains good prioritization and center positioning for the duration.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This disc includes two cuts of the film: the "Original Film" (1:49:38) and the "Katie's Extended Cinematic Bonanza Cut!" (1:52:48 and preceded by a minute-long director's intro). This longer cut includes alternate scenes in a more basic animation style. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. Also included is a small, folded sheet with director's notes; be ready to read with a magnifying glass. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter (1080p, 8:24): A short and crude but creative film from the mind of the film's protagonist, Katie Mitchell.
• Bonus Scenes! (1080p, 25:18 total runtime): Deleted and extended scenes in early conceptual animations stages. Included are The Mitchells Learn to Love Robots!, Katie's Sneaky Dog Cop Analogy, Katie Mitchell - The Most Popular Girl in Town, The Mitchells Meet the (Vice) President, Technology Takeover - With Bonus Cruelty to Child!, Everybody Loves Killbot, The Robots Attack - Early Version, and Cold Open - Old PAL Infomercial.
• Katie's Cabinet of Forgotten Wonders (1080p, 11:24 total runtime): Various bite-sized supplements that offer insight into some of the odds and ends related to the making of the movie. Included are Katie-Vision!; Dumb Robots Trailer; The Original Mitchells Story Pitch; The Furby Scene - How? Why?; and Pal's World.
• The Mitchells vs. The Machines: Or How a Group of Passionate Weirdos Made a Big Animated Movie (1080p, 12:49): The filmmakers cover a broad swath of content about project origins, story details, characters, animation, and more.
• Audio Commentary: Director Mike Rianda, Visual Effects Supervisor Miks Lasker, Production Designer Lindsey Olivares, Co-Writer/Co-Director Jeff Rowe, Producer Kurt Albrecht, Head of Animation Alan Hawkins, and Head of Story Guillermo Martinez assemble to talk about the film from a number of perspectives. It's both funny and informative and while a few separate tracks might have given the content more room to breathe, they manage to throw in a lot of content in a limited time.
• How To... (1080p): Audiences learn how to Make Sock Puppets (1:48) and Make Katie Face Cupcakes (1:56).
• Previews (1080p, various runtimes): Additional Sony titles.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Quite frequently The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a resounding success, particularly in its opening act and through much of the middle stretch. However, a dullard of a core story pitting creative, free-spirited daughter against a more conservatively minded father feels trite, and the movie is too long through its middle stretch, which grows repetitious. The ending is a bit trite, too. All that said, the movie is free flowing and fun, mostly, and many of its flaws could have been fixed in the editing room. Sony's Blu-ray delivers high yield video, able bodied audio, and a handful of extras. Recommended.