First Take: Tom and Jerry: The Movie - it’s a game of cat and mouse.

SYNOPSIS: A chaotic battle ensues between Jerry Mouse, who has taken refuge in the Royal Gate Hotel, and Tom Cat, who is hired to drive him away before the day of a big wedding arrives.

Initially released on PVOD back in March, Warner are one of the few distributors who opted to release their backlog on the big screen upon the reopen last week, and with stiff competition from Peter Rabbit, does this new take on the Hanna-Barbera classic have the goods as we go into half term week? The answer is complex - some elements work, and others struggle.

The main problem is director Tim Story - this is his first animated film, and given his track record (including both the 2005 and 2008 Fantastic Four releases), it is a bold choice for Warner. He’s able to turn around a relatively decent 1 hour 41 minutes, which could’ve been a bit tighter at points, and obviously the script from Kevin Costello does a relatively decent job at modernising the two characters for a 2021 audience- but here’s the problem: it’s too paint by numbers, predictable, and regrettably, unoriginal. Elements of the plot become obvious quite early on, and even with the amount of slapstick on offer, it can, and should, be better than this. On cinematography duties is Alan Stewart, who again, does a decent but not great job, and Christopher Lennertz provides music at the right moments.

As for the cast, Chloe Grace Moretz is a likable lead, and she does a good job making the part CG/in-camera hybrid of animation work well, but it does feel like she was one of the alternate choices for the role - if the rumours are to be believed, many higher profile names were initially considered. Joining her in the live action segments is Rob Delaney (who holds this film together in my eyes), Michael Pena, SNL head writer Colin Jost, Ken Jeong, and Pallavi Shrida, who again, do a good job making the live action blend work relatively well. For the voice cast, those two iconic characters are actually done using archival recordings from the original cartoons (a very novel touch), and the new talent includes Bobby Cannavale, Lil Rel Howery and many others. They’re also joined in the UK version by Good Morning Britain’s Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard, who slot into the film much better than expected for a quick overdub to suit the local audience.

Drones so intuitive, even Tom & Jerry can fly 🚁 pic.twitter.com/bAhLEKX6bq

— DJI (@DJIGlobal) March 10, 2021

However, the one thing that really got on my gears was the sheer amount of product placement. It literally puts the Bond/Heineken deal to shame -TVs, drones, even mascaras, all shown, and all with the usual trend of lingering on their respective logos for a few seconds longer than necessary. This is a KIDS film. Not a 1 hour 41 minute advert - following 14 minutes worth of adverts. Cut the placements, and you’ll easily have it under 90 minutes. Hollywood, get it done.

THE VERDICT

The film had potential, but weak direction, an unoriginal script, and an overkill of product placements compared to the target audience makes Tom and Jerry one of the weaker films of this restart. Kids will enjoy it without shadow of a doubt, but with Peter Rabbit literally playing in the screen next door… it’s easy to see why this film went PVOD initially.

RATING: 2.5/5