There is no denying it, Tom & Jerry is one of the greatest cartoons ever made. Originally made in the 1940s and 1950s, the original cartoons are probably some of the most violent variations on "cat chases mouse" ever made. Of course as time goes by, efforts are made to tone down the violence and make the duo more family friendly.
With every new variation, the characters move from tormenting the crap out of each other with axes, knives, dynamite and whatever else, toward what can probably be better described as organised chaos and who can make the bigger mess. We saw it in the Gene Deitch cartoons, the Chuck Jones cartoons and every later cartoon tamed them back.
This new 2021 movie is closer in terms of the basic Tom & Jerry "chase" formula that worked for 160 odd episodes in the 1940s/50s, but Is the 2021 film better than the 1992 film ? Easily. That tried to be clever, and failed miserably. Here the cat & mouse duo can have their fights, their chases, their whatever else and it doesn't look too far out of place from the original cartoons. Yes they look different (how could they not?) and know social media but they still feel familiar.
Yes in the movie Tom might not attempt to chop Jerry in half with an axe and Jerry might not feed Tom through a clothes mangle (kids, ask your parents or grandparents :)), but then again this is 2021, they were never going to do that anyway. The new style antics are very slapstick, never terminal (but then they weren't first time round either) but still fun.
I will admit I thought I was going to be disappointed with this. I'm glad to say I wasn't. Tom & Jerry has never really suited a long form storyline and I suppose its one of those things that there will never be a perfect script for them. But this wasn't bad.
With every new variation, the characters move from tormenting the crap out of each other with axes, knives, dynamite and whatever else, toward what can probably be better described as organised chaos and who can make the bigger mess. We saw it in the Gene Deitch cartoons, the Chuck Jones cartoons and every later cartoon tamed them back.
This new 2021 movie is closer in terms of the basic Tom & Jerry "chase" formula that worked for 160 odd episodes in the 1940s/50s, but Is the 2021 film better than the 1992 film ? Easily. That tried to be clever, and failed miserably. Here the cat & mouse duo can have their fights, their chases, their whatever else and it doesn't look too far out of place from the original cartoons. Yes they look different (how could they not?) and know social media but they still feel familiar.
Yes in the movie Tom might not attempt to chop Jerry in half with an axe and Jerry might not feed Tom through a clothes mangle (kids, ask your parents or grandparents :)), but then again this is 2021, they were never going to do that anyway. The new style antics are very slapstick, never terminal (but then they weren't first time round either) but still fun.
I will admit I thought I was going to be disappointed with this. I'm glad to say I wasn't. Tom & Jerry has never really suited a long form storyline and I suppose its one of those things that there will never be a perfect script for them. But this wasn't bad.