The Mitchells vs The Machines prove just how talented Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are yet again making a phenomenal hit.
Directed by Michael Rianada, but produced by iconic duo Lord and Miller, The Mitchells vs The Machines elevates the road trip genre and inserts tonnes of charm and charisma as a family unit the Mitchells find themselves fighting against a British equivalent to Siri (Olivia Colman).
The Mitchells go on a road trip across the States driving their eldest daughter to college. All the while, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mark Bowman (Eric Andre) introduces the latest piece of personal assistant tech, while the previous model, Colman’s PAL becomes obsolete.
What transpires in The Mitchells vs The Machines is an exceptional road trip film similar to Little Miss Sunshine, where each character grows and learns, pushing and battling each individual quirk such as the father, Rick (Danny McBride) being a technophobe and the mother Linda (Maya Rudolph) being overly protective and maternal.
Admittedly the story is very similar to Lord and Miller’s The LEGO Movie: an evil capitalistic overlord overthrows machinery to enslave the population, causing our protagonists to break into the comedically tall sky tower dressed as the robots that took over humanity. It was just missing Alsion Brie going “business business business”.
However, the comedy never fails to land. It is evident how Lord and Miller have fine-tuned their humour since Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. With a surrealist set-piece involving the World’s Largest Furby, The Mitchells vs The Machines never fails to be truly unique and its own thing.
Further to this, the art direction is a piece of modern art. Each scene is breathtakingly gorgeous and could easily be marketed as a comic or visual novel. The artwork is enough to capture your attention while the sensational character work ties all elements together.
