Migration

Migration Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Caspar Jennings, Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, Danny DeVito, and David Mitchell

Director: Benjamin Renner

What’s Good: The voice actors do a fantastic job and elevate the jokes from funny to hilarious.

What’s Bad: The film’s premise and message feel like something we have seen countless times before.

Loo Break: Maybe by the second time the family gets trapped against their will, you can escape for a loo break, knowing they will be fine.

Watch or Not?: Watch only if you have no other option on the deck or need to take the kids to the cinema.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 120 Minutes.

User Rating:

2023 was a big year for animation; Chicken Run came back, we got an entertaining Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adaptation, Netflix released a couple of great solid animated films like Nimona, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie became one of the biggest box office successes of the year. Out of that entire catalog, it seems that Illumination Entertainment is on a roll, and Migration, their new animated film, aims to close the year with a bang, exactly like their Mario movie started the summer.

Migration Movie Review: Script Analysis

Migration looks and feels exactly like you imagine an Illumination Entertainment film to look and feel; this is not bad at all; it just means that the studio has finally cemented its style in such a way that it is becoming straightforward for them to distinguish themselves from the likes of Disney and Dreamworks. The quality of the animation in their films is superb; you just have to check out the way The Super Mario Bros. Movie brought those worlds to life to see that this studio is full of talent.

However, cementing a style in such a way can also bring expectations; with expectations, a certain familiarity is built. Migration feels like someone at Illumination watched the fantastic 2016 “Storks” and decided that they could do it better; sadly, while the effort is very much on the screen, Migrations feels more like a DreamWorks film when it comes to the story and characters, meaning that the film follows a template to the teeth, and while doing this allows for the creation of a solid movie, it might not result in the creation of a memorable one.

Migration has tons of humor, and some jokes are hilarious. Meanwhile, the movie has a very familiar plot where one character needs to change to keep the things they have or risk losing everything. This type of plot is seen in many animated movies, but unlike The Incredibles or The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Migration doesn’t have something extra to make it stand out from the rest.

Other films are inside a definite genre like The Incredibles does with the superhero genre, or maybe they have an animation style that feels different and fresh; meanwhile, Migration has the same old look and feel. The execution of a story is primordial, and in that realm, the film does a great job; little kids will love it, and it will be a great time; sadly, I don’t think the movie has what it takes to maintain itself in time, it is solid, but not memorable.

Migration Movie Review: Star Performance

Voices are critical in animation because they are the last ingredient that will take the characters to the finish line regarding sympathy and engagement. Thankfully, Migration has a fantastic voice cast that puts the effort and takes the movie to another level. If the film didn’t have this level of voice acting, it could have been the case that the movie would be dull. However, the line delivery is quite efficient and just funny.

Nanjiani and Banks create a perfect couple, playing the parts of Mark and Pam, the leaders of the duck family. Both actors manage to sell the idea that these two characters are so different from each other, yet they love one another on such a pure level that it would be impossible for them to try to live alone. Nanjiani and Banks carry the film, but on the road, they find unforgettable characters that improve the journey.