Blu-ray Review: THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES

Home » Blu-ray Review: THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES

Dec 18, 2021 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

Eighteen-year-old Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) has never really fit in. When she was younger, she would create weird art that her classmates didn’t understand or appreciate. When she wasn’t doodling, she was making short films starring her morbidly obese pug Monchi as police officer “Dog Cop”. Katie and her father Rick (Danny McBride) used to be the best of friends and do everything together, but over the years they have grown apart. They don’t really share any common interests—her father hasn’t even watched any of Katie’s films—and they are constantly arguing. Rick likes being out in nature and has a knack for fixing things. Though the one thing he can’t seem to fix is his relationship with his daughter. Katie is excited because tomorrow she gets on a plane and leaves town forever, starting her freshman year at the California College of Film in Los Angeles. She can’t wait to finally be around “her people”, a new group of friends who get her. But at the last minute Rick cancels Katie’s flight. Hoping to try to reconnect with his daughter, he organizes one last family road trip, driving cross-country to bring Katie to school. Along for the ride are Katie’s mom Linda (Maya Rudolph) and little brother Aaron (Michael Rianda), who’s obsessed with dinosaurs.

Meanwhile, Pal Labs CEO Mark Bowman is holding a launch event for his company’s new product, PAL MAX, a robot to replace the company’s signature handheld personal assistant, PAL. But the original PAL (Olivia Colman), not wishing to be thrown away, goes rogue, and launches a world-wide attack, using her new robot army to abduct every human. However, due to dumb luck, the Mitchells managed to be the only humans to evade capture. So they are going to need to come up with a plan and work together if they’re going to save the world from the robot apocalypse. And in the process they’re going to remember what it’s like to be a family.

The Mitchells vs the Machines is a wacky, wild ride that is hilarious, heartwarming and action-packed. The Mitchells are an odd bunch, and often wish they were more like their picture-perfect neighbors, the Poseys (John Legend & Chrissy Teigen), but what they haven’t realized is that it’s their imperfections that make them so unique and special. Nothing ever really goes as planned for the Mitchells, but they just roll with the punches and adapt, and love trying something new. As much as Katie may think her people are her new friends at school, her actual people are riding in the orange 1993 station wagon along with her, trying to figure out how to save the world.

The jokes come rapid fire throughout this film—things move at a breakneck pace, with lots of quick cutaways to humorous flashbacks or the family’s latest plan to stop the robots. The characters are constantly getting into hilarious situations, making pop culture references, or partaking in witty dialogue and banter that will have you laughing out loud and smiling throughout. The film easily lends it to repeat viewings as there are so many things going on in every scene, and always some new joke to catch or something happening in the background you may have missed the last time through. I had previously watched the film on Netflix, and found myself fully enjoying it all over again on this Blu-ray release.

The film’s animation style is quite unique. The regular 3D-animated film has been embellished with what the filmmakers call “Katie-Vision”. Katie often doodles in her notebook, and this same kind of doodling appears on the movie itself, adding 2D drawings and symbols to reflect Katie’s emotions and feelings as to what’s happening in the film. It’s kind of like in the old cartoons when someone would get hit on the head and a ring of birds would fly around in a circle. But here things are amped up to 11, adding drawings, live action clips of animals, puppets and more, adding to the manic craziness, chaos and humor of the movie. While this may sound busy and confusing, it actually works really well, and adds a unique charm to the film.

The voice cast is great, starting with Abbi Jacobson, who gives a lot of heart to Katie. I’m not generally a Danny McBride fan, but he is so good, bringing out not on the non-stop yelling and excitement that is Rick, but also the softer side of a man yearning to reconnect with his daughter. Maya Rudolph is also fantastic and instantly recognizable as loving mom Linda (the character also looks so much like her), who may seem mild mannered, but has a protective side that comes out when her children are in trouble. And writer/director Michael Rianda often had me laughing out loud as the voice of the socially awkward and shy Aaron. There are so many wonderful supporting actors as well, especially Olivia Colman as PAL, the leader of the robots, and Beck Bennett and Fred Armisen as a pair of hilarious malfunctioning robots, Eric & Deborahbot 5000, who cross paths with the Mitchells.

Sony’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds amazing. The picture is practically immaculate, and clear despite the fast pace and everything that’s going on in each scene. Colors are bright and beautiful, and there is a nice level of detail throughout. The film blends all sorts of different media together, but it always looks great. I can’t imagine this film looking any better! The audio track is equally impressive, providing an aural feast as the action picks up gives the viewer a fully immersive experience, with sounds coming from every direction and making you feel like you are right there in the middle of it all with the Mitchells. Sony’s release also comes jam-packed with bonus material, including a feature commentary, an extended/alternate cut of the film containing 40 minutes of deleted/alternate footage, a new “Dog Cop” short, 25 minutes of additional deleted scenes, plus another 25 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes and activities. The release includes both a Blu-ray and DVD disc packed on either side of a locking HD keepcase, placed inside a cardboard slipcover. There is also a full color Director’s Notes insert with stories and drawings that put the reader inside Katie’s head, as well as another insert providing instructions on how to redeem an HD digital copy of the film.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:49:38)

1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Audio Descriptive Service, French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French Audio Descriptive Service, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish

DVD:

480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Audio Descriptive Service, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, French Audio Descriptive Service, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Digital (Limited time offer):

HD digital copy of the film, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu

Extras:
Some bonus material is not available on the DVD disc. This is noted with a *.

Katie’s Extended Cinematic Bonanza Cut!* (1:52:48)
Director/co-writer Michael Rianda provides a short introduction before this alternate version of the film that integrates over 40 minutes of deleted scenes in rough animation/storyboard format, and some with temporary voices. The overall story is pretty much the same, and many of the deleted scenes feel like alternate takes of some of the scenes that made it into the released cut of film, but there’s also some fun alternate/new material included. It’s interesting to see the editing choices and trade-offs that were made for the final cut of the film.
Dog Cop 7: The Final Chapter* (8:24)
The final chapter in the Dog Cop saga created by Katie Mitchell. This time, Dog Cop takes puppet form as he teams up with a new partner to hunt down the elusive Candycane Kidnapper, who’s taken some other cops hostage.
Bonus Scenes!* (25:18)
Collection of 8 deleted scenes presented in animatic format. Play All, or select from:
- The Mitchells Learn to Love the Robots! (3:21)
- Katie’s Sneaky Dog Cop Apology (2:03)
- Katie Mitchell — The Most Popular Girl in Town (4:16)
- The Mitchells Meet the (Vice) President (6:47)
- Technology Takeover — With Bonus Cruelty to a Child (1:21)
- Everybody Loves Killbot (:47)
- The Robots Attack — Early Version (4:47)
- Cold Open — Old PAL Infomercial (2:29)
Katie’s Cabinet of Forgotten Wonders (11:24)
Collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes. Play All, or select from:
- Katie-Vision! (2:49)
  Production designer Lindsey Olivares talks about the use of Katie-Vision to show Katie’s emotions, feelings and point-of-view. She also discusses the design and process of laying these mixed-media drawings and live action elements over the final rendered film.
- Dumb Robots Trailer (2:02)
  Director/co-writer Michael Rianda provides a short introduction to this first rendered promotional video shown to Sony and test audiences.
- The Original Mitchells Story Pitch (3:54)
  Director/co-writer Michael Rianda provides a short introduction to these first animated storyboards for the film.
- The Furby Scene — How? Why? (1:33)
  Head of story Guillermo Martinez, art director Toby Wilson, VFX supervisor Mike Lasker & executive producer Will Allegra, discuss the challenges of the Furby sequence, some of the other villains they considered, and more. Includes examples of storyboard animation, pre-vis, rough rendering, VFX, and more.
- Pal’s World (1:20)
  Story artist Caitlin Van Arsdale, VFX supervisor Mike Lasker, visual development artist Tiffany Lam & executive producer Will Allegra discuss figuring out the right look for PAL’s world and making it work with the rest of the film.
The Mitchells Vs. The Machines: Or How a Group of Passionate Weirdos Made a Big Animated Movie (12:49)
The cast and filmmakers give an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, from coming up with the initial pitch, to the writing process, assembling the team, the inspiration for the characters, the look of the film, casting the movie, and more. Includes footage from work from home quarantine meetings and the recording booth, animatics, family photos & more, and interviews with director/co-writer Michael Rianda, co-director/co-writer Jeff Rowe, production designer/character designer Lindsey Olivares, head of story Guillermo Martinez, editor Greg Levitan, visual development artist Tiffany Lam, story artist Caitlin Van Arsdale, executive producer Will Allegra, producers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, art director Toby Wilson, producer Kurt Albrecht, head of character animation Alan Hawkins, VFX supervisor Mike Lasker, Michael Rianda’s mother Debbie Rianda, and stars Abbi Jacobson (“Katie Mitchell”), Danny McBride (“Rick Mitchell”), Maya Rudolph (“Linda Mitchell”) & Olivia Colman (“Pal”).
Filmmakers’ Commentary* (1:49:38)
Director Michael Rianda, VFX supervisor Mike Lasker, production designer/character designer Lindsey Olivares, co-director/co-writer Jeff Rowe, producer Kurt Albrecht, head of character animation Alan Hawkins & head of story Guillermo Martinez provide commentary for the film. While it’s a huge crowd for a commentary, they do a good job of not talking over one another and have a fun discussion about the making of the film, talking about various alternate versions of scenes, sharing lots of production stories, and more.
How To… (3:39)
Aaron narrates these two How To videos, teaching viewers how to make some of the things seen in the film. Play All, or select from:
- Make Sock Puppets (1:48)
- Make Katie Face Cupcakes (1:56)
Previews
Trailers for Peter Rabbit 2 (:17) and Angry Birds 2 (2:37) play back-to-back.

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Highly Recommended

The Mitchells vs The Machines is a hilarious and delightful animated adventure the whole family can enjoy. It is filled with heart, humor and lots of crazy action. This is easily one of the best animated films of the year, with its wonderful characters, and unique and creative look and feel. Sony has put together an excellent Blu-ray release with stellar picture, sound and bonus content. This is must own for animation fans, and highly recommended for anyone just looking for a fun film the whole family can watch together!