I was not feeling encouraged in this decision for the first fifteen minutes. The effects Katie uses in her short videos made me feel like I was watching something off Snapchat or tiktok. Which is probably the point, but they were kind of annoying. Too much extraneous crap on the screen. And the conflict between her and her tech-phobic dad (who I would never have guessed was voiced by Danny McBride) felt ridiculously cliche. Especially the part where they're fighting over the laptop and it gets thrown against a wall.
But after a slow start, it picked up dramatically. The way the movie presents parts of the family's battle against the machines with the same filters and effects Katie uses in her film not only makes the whole thing feel like an extension of the documentary she was trying to make of the road trip, but it draws connections to those earlier bits. The movie's very good at using the things it establishes in the early going. Rick teaching Katie to drive stick. Linda impressing on Eric and Deborahbot 5000 that they're part of their family. The thing about the screwdriver anniversary gift. All the little in-jokes between Katie and her little brother, Aaron. Although they got along a lot better than most siblings I know. It was kind of sweet, though.
The movie knows when to lean into absurd humor or slapstick physical comedy, which are always good. Witness the repeated gags of Katie tricking Rick into getting licked by the dog (or is it a pig? or a loaf of bread?) Or the angry AI asking to be set on the table so it can flop about in fury. The Giant Furby in general, but especially it declaring pain only fuels its rage. Actually, the whole sequence in the mall cracked me up.
The one thing I didn't really enjoy was the other family the Mitchells compared unfavorably to. They didn't really seem necessary to the plot, and the Mitchells were so dysfunctional you don't really need to see a happy family as a point of contrast.
No comments:
Post a Comment