With the surprising success of the LEGO movie franchise and the groundbreaking, Oscar winning Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse, it seems as though anything that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller touch right now turns into gold, and with the release of their latest endeavour The Mitchells Vs The Machines, the question is whether they can keep up their golden streak.

From the classic films such as Mrs Doubtfire to recent offerings such as Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Shia LeBeouf’s Honey Boy, the disconnect between parents and their children is a theme that is touched upon time and time again throughout cinema but the universality and timelessness of the concept allows it to traverse across generations and genres in new and refreshing ways.

Enter the Mitchell’s – A somewhat dysfunctional nuclear family struggling to connect with each other and bridge the widening generational gap which is largely exasperated by their differing attitudes towards technology.

Outdoorsy ‘let’s-get-back-to-nature’ patriarch Rick (voiced by Danny McBride) is something of a technophobe who looks on technology as a distraction whereas his daughter Katie sees it as an outlet for creativity and she has built herself quite a following on YouTube with her quirky short films, mainly starring their crazy eyed chunky pug Monchi. When Katie gets accepted into an L.A film school, she sees it as a chance to find a sense of belonging and acceptance, and realise her dream.

On the of her leaving, the disconnect between her and her father come to an dramatic head and she wakes in the morning happy to be getting as far away from her family as she possibly can. Unfortunately for Katie, her kind-hearted mum has encouraged Rick to try and mend the relationship before the opportunity passes them by. His response? Cancel Katie’s flights (gulp!) and drive instead, taking the whole family, including Monchi and Katie’s younger dinosaur loving brother Aaron (voiced by director, Michael Rianda), on a make-or-break cross country road trip to L.A.

Meanwhile, tech mogul Mark Bowman is announcing his latest development, upgrading the Siri/Alexa inspired voice assistant PAL (gleefully voiced by Olivia Colman) to the robotic humanoid PAL Max. Angry at being relegated to the trash and at the injustice of helping to design her replacement, PAL leads a robot uprising with a mission to enslave the human race. The only thing standing in her way is the worst family of all time.

Thematically, The Mitchells Vs The Machines delivers a biting yet balanced social commentary on our growing digital culture and the impact that it can have on our real-life tangible bonds, yet simultaneously offering us ever evolving platforms for creativity, originality and self-discovery. For me, it is also a film about compromise, understanding and acceptance especially across the very real generational divide. Times are changing and we need to embrace the future without losing the past.

Reading my previous paragraph back to myself, I am aware how contemplative and reflective it sounds but, trust me, the film delivers it’s message in a much more fun, lighthearted way and with a great sense of humour. As well as a great bevy of voice actors, the film’s true strength comes from its design.

Its use of mixed media, including real YouTube footage and an interesting blend of 2D and 3D animation gives the film a unique aesthetic that is a little busy and chaotic, but pleasantly so. The use of, what the filmmakers call, ‘Katie-vision’ offers a glimpse into the mind of our teenage protagonist and will resonate with the young and young-at-heart viewers. The Mitchells Vs The Machines is the type of film that you could watch again and again and still find something new and exciting.

Overall, The Mitchells Vs The Machines is a fast-paced, fun-filled action adventure film that is perfect for the whole family. As with Spider-verse, there is a real emotional depth to the story that puts Sony Animation hot on the heels of Pixar which, coming from me, is a mahoosive compliment. And with Pixar’s next release, Luca, coming later on this year, who will take home the grand prize at the 2022 Oscars?

The Mitchells Vs The Machines is now available to stream on Netflix.