The Mitchells vs. The Machines just might be my new favorite animated film.

Or at least it slots into my Top 3 with ease. This is possibly the funniest and most creative film I've seen in a long time.

The characters take almost no time to get to know and love. There's an insane energy to the film. 

It's almost like... ugh, this is a VERY strained analogy that I'm not entirely comfortable with, but I can't get it out of my head: the happily "outsider" vibe of The Addams Family crossed with the family unity of the Belchers from Bob's Burgers. (Hell, the mom is even named 'Lin'.) Then mix in a dash of Gravity Falls, and lots of energy drinks.

And then send them all on a road trip to save the world.

The comedy is often quite hyperkinetic but there isn't a dud in the batch. For a lesser film a fast pace of "random" and pop culture might be a negative, but The Mitchells own it and thread that needle with ease. It never becomes obnoxious.

Honestly, I can't praise it enough. I LOVED this flick and I'm kind of clawing the desk to throw it on again.

I sincerely hope they consider follow-ups in the style of a "The Mitchells vs...." series, keeping the same writers. Because they've REALLY got something special here.

5/5

_{https://letterboxd.com/drfortyseven/film/the-mitchells-vs-the-machines/}

I've been very much critical of the whole "Release the Snyder Cut" movement. It's supporters were, more often than not, entitled, angry, vocal assholes.

Imagine my dread when the studio decided to capitalize on that movement and make it happen to bolster HBO Max.

Much to my surprise, this actually takes a mediocre movie and makes numerous improvements. Dare I say this is a much better film than Whedon's attempt with Justice League in 2017. It's by no means free of flaws, but the narrative flows better. The new content does a lot of fleshing out, too. 

And even though I'm, by far, not a fan of Snyder's visual style -- I heard someone refer to it as a "motorcycle grease" aesthetic. Visually this film fits better with the previous entries. (I do miss Whedon's saturation, at least.)

Was it worth the $70 million fucking dollars to fix the film? Absolutely not. Good lord! 

But the deed is done. No use complaining about THAT at this point.

The only real black mark on this take: it's FOUR hours long, with no real justification for that length other than to let you soak in the film's grease for long stretches as music fills the void. 

The length is going to make future viewings prohibitive. It'll keep this from making it the de facto version of Justice League, I think. And that's a shame, because it really is a "patch" that fixes a lot.

Finally, against all odds, I can actually say: I'd like to see Snyder do a sequel film. I dislike his style, but I'm finding myself unexpectedly invested now. He's turned me around on how I feel about this film in general.

That's nothing short of a personal miracle.

4/5