‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ is one of 2021’s best movies so far

Posted on May 7, 2021

By MARK VIOLA

I first saw a trailer for the animated film “Connected” last year before its planned release in theaters in the fall. That release ultimately didn’t happen because of COVID-19, and I forgot about the movie. As such, I had no idea until a couple of weeks ago that its rights had been sold to Netflix and its name changed to “The Mitchells vs. the Machines.”

I also didn’t know that it was set for an April 30 release on Netflix, as evidenced by the fact that it was not included in my preview column last week. I only found out it was available when I saw it on the list of new releases when I logged in to watch something else. I quickly changed my mind and watched “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” instead, which was a good decision, because the film is one of the better movies I’ve seen in 2021 so far.

The movie is produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who directed “The Lego Movie” and produced and co-wrote “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse,” two of the most visually-unique animated films above the past several years. That tradition continues here in “The Mitchells,” as does the imaginative and emotional storytelling found in both of those other movies.

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