“Tom and Jerry” Presents Nostalgic New Wine

Release Date：Feb/26/2021

Genre：Animation/Adventure/Comedy

Director：Tim Story

Cast：Chloe Grace Moretz、Michael Peña、Ken Jeong、Jordan Bolger

Viola's Rating：4.0

Last year marked the 80^th anniversary of one of the world’s most famous frenemy duos, Tom and Jerry, and Chinese games publish NetEase launched a “Tom and Jerry” mobile game during the pandemic in China and South East Asia. Even after 80 years, the never-ending rivalry between the titular roles is still very popular, and this time, they’re going to fight against each other in New York city, on the big screen, with the release of “Tom and Jerry” on March 5, 2021.

Based on the American animated franchise and series of comedy shorts created in 1940, this adventurous comedy animation was adapted from the classic Hanna-Barbera property of Tom and Jerry, which reveals how the two characters first meet each other and become frenemy. As a 2D animation/live action hybrid feature film, “Tom and Jerry” not only brings back the audience’s old memories from childhood, but also presents new wine with the live action elements and story settings.

Not only Tom and Jerry are 2D animation in the film, but also all the other animals appear, for example, other cats and mice, the doves singing, the exaggerated elephants, peacocks and a tiger. In order to demonstrate all the unrealistic cartoon effects and movements, 2D animation would be the best choice to create these animal characters. Although its quality isn’t as amazing and authentic as CGI effects, it reminds us how the original series look like.

On the other side, the live action animation is made delicately. Since Tom and Jerry fight against each other all the time, they usually cause a bunch of chaos, and a large number of real-world objects would be broken, burnt, torn, etc. In these chasing scenes, 2D animation and live action match with each other perfectly and smoothly.

Interestingly, Tom and Jerry aren’t the only rivalry in the flick. The protagonist, Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz), and the antagonist, Terence (Michael Peña) also become frenemy during this war between the hotel and Jerry, and of course, the war between Tom and Jerry. As usual, Tom and Jerry would cooperate to accomplish something together, shake hands, and get back to their normal rivalry again in a second.

However, “Tom and Jerry” isn’t just a motion picture about a cat chasing a mouse. It incorporates the value of marriage in it. The main plot this time is hosting the “wedding of the century”, and it critically points out that even without the interruption of Tom and Jerry in real life, it’s easy for husband-and-wife to be to quarrel while preparing for the wedding. Being considerate and knowing how to listen to one another are the most precious tips to keep in mind.

“Tom and Jerry” is indeed a brilliant comedy that can bring gales of laughter from moviegoers, and even better, for those who enjoyed the story of the frenemy during childhood will find it very nostalgic with the new plot.

Picture Credit: IMDb