The Mitchells vs. the Machines | The Bad Batch | What Drives Us
Directed by Mike Rianda
When it comes to crossover animated films that appeal to adults as well as kids, Pixar has dominated the market since the mid-’90s — and while the studio’s output has been unimpeachable, it has resulted in the films feeling (and looking) a little homogenous.
That’s what makes the Sony-produced The Mitchells vs. the Machines such a welcome breath of fresh air. Its tearjerking family themes are Pixar-esque, but the film also brings a distinct Gen Z perspective — even though director Mike Rianda is actually 36, firmly in the millennial generation — plus an organic animation style that somehow looks like pencil crayon, claymation and 3D CGI all at once.
The film finds the titular Mitchells surviving — and eventually battling against — a robot apocalypse, as an AI named PAL (Olivia Colman) achieves the technological singularity and overthrows the human race. But even before that, the family is undergoing some changes, as teenager Katie (Abbi Jacobson) is leaving for film school and has frequent clashes with dad Rick (Danny McBride).
Once the robot fighting begins, The Mitchells vs. the Machines draws on the cheerful post-apocalyptic irony of Zombieland, the maximalist visuals of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and the ominous synthwave score of Stranger Things. With faux-YouTube clips, memes, and even a few photographic images mixed in with the animation, the film has a slightly chaotic visual style that’s appropriate for a contemporary internet audience.
It’s fun and unconventional, but The Mitchells vs. the Machines ultimately succeeds with the oldest trick in the book: good storytelling. At its heart, this is a film about a teenager holding onto family bonds even as she enters adulthood and leaves the nest. If this is where Hollywood is headed, I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords. (Netflix)
The Bad Batch Season 1
Created by Dave Filoni
Lucasfilm and Disney continue to expand the Star Wars animated universe with new series The Bad Batch. Helmed by veteran Dave Filoni, The Bad Batch builds on the universe established with the previous animated series Clone Wars and Rebels. We follow Clone Force 99, a.k.a. the Bad Batch, an elite team of genetically enhanced clones with special abilities. Crosshair, for example, has super sight, which makes him a perfect sniper. Tech, of course, is a genius, and the group’s leader Hunter has a Rambo bandana. He can do stuff like Rambo from the Rambo films. It’s silly, but it’s Star Wars — it should be a little silly.
The Bad Batch begins immediately before the fall of the Jedi and the restructuring of the Galactic Republic into the Empire. It’s a period of time rife with potentially interesting storylines: after years of war, a fragile galaxy is now having the will of a fascist empire imposed upon it. Almost immediately, the Bad Batch find themselves at odds with the newly formed Empire and questioning where their loyalties lie.
In terms of production, there is little to take issue with. Like the final seasons of Clone Wars, The Bad Batch is slick and well-animated, with appropriate Star Wars musical themes weaved into the original score. It’s hard to imagine that fans of the previous Filoni-helmed animated series will be disappointed with The Bad Batch, but it also probably won’t win over many new fans either.
The clones aren’t as compelling as the Jedi that the original Clone Wars series and Rebels generally focused on, nor does it have a big hook like Grogu in The Mandalorian. But as part of the expanding animated Star Wars universe, it’s a welcome addition. (Disney/Lucasfilm)
What Drives Us
Directed by Dave Grohl
For a guy who has spent 30 years as a very famous rock star, Dave Grohl sure likes to romanticize touring in a van. “People, especially these big musicians, they’re kind of proud that they toured in a van,” the Foo Fighters frontman says a few minutes into What Drives Us, a documentary about the formative touring experiences of fellow rock stars. Yup, we noticed!
Dave Grohl, being Dave Grohl, gets incredible access to an all-star cast of interview subjects, including Ringo Starr (the Beatles), Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Ben Harper, St. Vincent, Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Tony Kanal (No Doubt), Exene Cervenka ( X), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat), the Edge (U2) and many more. Early on, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich admits that he’s never actually toured in a van, setting the tone for a film that doesn’t actually have much to say about life in a van but is entertaining nevertheless.
For all the misty-eyed nostalgia and philosophizing about what van touring “means,” no one says all that much beyond some variation on: I’m so grateful for the experience of touring America in a cramped van; now listen to me describe the very specific way we packed our gear into the
back. As a filmmaker, Grohl doesn’t fully seem to grasp the idea of “show, don’t tell,” since he spends too long telling us about how great touring is rather than actually relating interesting stories from the road.
And when What Drives Us finally does get into the nitty-gritty, it’s fascinating — like when Flea talks about playing jazz trumpet as a way to escape his abusive home life, Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro talks about his experiences with addiction, or when Ian MacKaye gives a history lesson on how D.O. A. and Black Flag invented touring as we know it. A quick-cut montage of near-death highway experiences coaxes some much-needed anecdotes out of the interview subjects.
The real success of What Drives Us is when it humanizes its largerthan-life subjects. For touring indie musicians, it might be a little patronizing to hear these rock stars glorify their supposed struggles — the road is tough, my friends! — but it also clarifies Grohl’s vision of a shared music community. As he told Exclaim! earlier this year, “I love to imagine that all music is a community of people. Whether it’s the biggest artists in the world, like Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus, or bands you’ve never heard of but that play with incredible passion, we’re all connected somehow.” If that’s his philosophy, then What Drives Us is his charmingly earnest manifesto. (Amazon Prime)