Perfectly following the hilarious original cartoon Tom and Jerry, “Tom and Jerry the Movie” brought laughter and joy to my family and me. “Tom and Jerry the Movie” released in theaters and on the streaming service HBO Max on February 26.

Starring actors Chloe Grace Moretz as Kayla, Colin Jost as Ben, Pallavi Sharda as Preeta, Ken Jeong as Jacki the Chef, and many others, the movie features a hit cast perfect for comedy and action.

The movie follows Kayla (Chloe Grace Moretz), as she tricks herself into a job at a fancy 5-star hotel. There, she is placed in charge of ridding the building of a mouse, Jerry. So, when she meets Tom, already riled up and ready to finish Jerry off, they form a team. At the same time, New York’s most famous couple, Preety and Ben, arrive at the hotel in preparation for their wedding. But, of course, Tom and Jerry fight their way to destroying the ceremony.

From the beginning of the movie, fans of the original cartoon are immediately brought back to their childhood. The movie perfectly uses the same silent yet hilarious actions and techniques as the original cartoon.

But, the film also added live-action characters. Most of the humans portrayed in the movie had spoken lines and were played by real people rather than being animated. So, while watching the movie, it was hard for me to piece both the live-action parts and animated parts together. It was even harder to connect the two when both were present on the screen, which happened very often throughout the movie.

In many children’s movies or cartoons, there is a life-lesson or moral hidden somewhere along with the plot. These are put there to teach kids important lessons whilst having fun and enjoying a movie. ‘Tom and Jerry the Movie’ does the same thing. But, the film states some of these lessons out loud as well. In one scene, the manager of the hotel tells Kayla that “Weddings are the real test for couples, some rise to the challenge and some just fall”. I feel that when morals are stated outright, the audience is more likely to conceive them, especially when they are stated multiple times like the above example was. Personally, I also find the life-lessons to be more personal and contain more of an ability to connect with me when they are flat out stated. While watching movies, I often find myself completely immersed in each scene. So, when a character directly tells another character an inspirational or though-evoking quote, it tends to go deeper into my brain as well.

In addition to being transparent with it’s life-lessons, “Tom and Jerry the Movie” also contains a large entertainment factor. The movie has a perfect balance of comedy, tragedy, and action mixed into its well-planned scenes. The amusing pranks that Jerry pulls on Tom lend themselves wonderfully to the comedy aspect of this film. The producers and directors of the film also managed to tie each prank to the plot wonderfully as well.

Eventually, Tom and Jerry’s quarrels lead to a huge disaster and rip Preeta and Ben apart. The weight of the new situation at hand is clearly felt by all of the characters and each member of the audience. The producers did a great job of changing the mood of the film from light and funny, to heavy and gloomy.

The producers of the film went even deeper and added a note of action to the scenes of the movie. Each scene where Tom and Jerry chase each other around is perfectly laced with comedy and action. The scenes all have a boatload of laughter in store for audiences, but also keeps watchers on their toes, eager to see what comes next. Also, the movie integrates some high-tech machinery and animals to add a high level of energy.

Overall, the movie perfectly threads bits and pieces of many different movie types into its plotline and story. It also reminds viewers of childhood cartoons and sitting down with their family enjoying a series of hilarious pranks by Tom and Jerry

8.5/10