Tom & Jerry: The Movie Is Animated, Queer-coded, Chaotic Joy!

★★★★★

Tom & Jerry: The Movie is a joy to watch! Everything from the chaos of the animated animals chasing each other through the city and around the corners of the hotel to the incredible decor in Jerry’s tiny hole-in-the-wall home entirely built with objects he stole from around the hotel. There are tons of animated animals among the cast: embellished elephants and a tiger for the wedding, VIP pets who arrive as guests of the hotel, and the pigeons who serve as narrators to introduce us to new scenes and sing the song to carry a montage.

Comedic timing and great lines for the cast. The cat saying Wooh duding the piano playing and singing in attempt to woo Preeta’s elegant cat. Ken Jeong. The Porter Joy as a quirky comedy lines. The reveal of the bulldog’s heart shaped chest. Awesome badass hip hop abs rap music for so much power walking scenes. – and one speedy power skate through New York City on a skateboard with wifi. The film FEELS Black or somehow like a celebration and INVITATION of Blackness to juse enjoy. Like a ‘we are SO invited to this thing!’ vibe – that reminds me of what Netflix’s Fe@rless does.

It’s also a fun, fantastic film in terms of representation among the cast: A lot of the animated side characters were voiced by actors of colour! There’s a boy of colour playing the opposite-sex friend-assumed-love interest for Chloe. There is a big fancy VIP Indian wedding for a hard to watch but well-meaning white man and the laid back, wonderful, overwhelmed-by-everything-including the massive engagement ring Preeta. The only true sweetness we see from this relationships is in the magic between Preeta and Chloe Moretz. (Her name is Kayla in the movie but…. let’s be real. It’s Chloe Moretz) The charming moments between them, the shared secrets, the hidden glances and lingering smiles. —I think this movie is like, the definition of queer-coded. The director is handing out blessings! I mean with the “Well, we are a full service hotel here.” Okay come on Chloe!!

!!!!! **There is no other explanation for all this!!!!!**

Another underlying storyline hits hard is a scene where the white woman (Chloe Moretz) gets chosen and believed over an employee of colour in a senior role who has been working there for years. The resume Chloe used to get the job was stolen from someone super-qualified, which is sad for the original person but a fun gimmick at the start of the film. (She does eventually say “I can’t believe I looked at everything she’s done and thought my pure ambition would be enough to cover it” and bring the original interviewee to meet the bosses for the job.) The bit goes a step or two too far when the senior staff member (Michael Pena) is asked to leave and Chloe is then promoted on the assumption she can handle everything – and the reason that’s mentioned for this job confidence is that she went above and beyond and quietly located and returned the bride’s missing ring. So now she can run an entire hotel staff and manage a large-scale luxury event, no probs!!! There’s also the black doorman who does the labour of keeping her secret right from the start, and the simple matter of then turning the POC character whose job she stole into a villain. (This plot thread ends in a weird but agreeable pact.)

The redemption arc as the film wraps up comes when Chloe throws Preeta the rustic effortless wedding of her dreams and fucking PROPOSES to her (to marry the white man, though) with a speech that would sweep her off her feet —and Preeta fully looks as if she was about to marry Chloe and be perfectly in love with that idea! I regret to inform you that I ship Preeta with yet another mediocre white person whose reaching escalates so far that it creates chaos for everyone around them. But I do! When the boy shows up at their makeshift and way better wedding ge brings this with him A LINE, “And will you marry me again, but better this time?” is A LINE. So, there’s that. Then the after-credits scene made my jaw drop! Lololll overall the film is tremendous fun! 10/10 recommend!

Bonus content!

I adore these poster variations!