Tom and Jerry never tries to be anything more than a simple children’s affair, which isn’t necessarily wrong in and of itself. This isn’t the first feature length film featuring the duo- the 1992 version featured speaking, singing versions of the leads that seemed like a departure from the core appeal of the cat-and-mouse chase. The problem with Tom and Jerry adaptations is that they are almost always relegated to playing supporting roles. The resulting story, in this case, seems like a throwback to live action adaptations of popular cartoon characters in the 2000s. It’s not exactly dreadful, but everything about it feels too ‘safe’ to make a lasting impression.
Confident grifter Kayla (Chloë Grace Moretz) scams her way into employment at a hotel which is hosting the wedding of internet-famous couple Ben (Colin Jost) and Preeta (Pallavi Sharda) in a few days. Her immediate superior, Terence (Michael Peña) is skeptical about Kayla’s skills, but her boss is impressed by her resourcefulness. Things get a lot more difficult once Jerry moves into the hotel and causes general chaos, which gives Kayla the genius idea of hiring Tom to solve the mouse problem. That, of course, doesn’t go as planned.
One good thing Tom and Jerry does is that it doesn’t convert its 2D characters into CGI approximations. In this world, humans exist alongside cartoon animals. It is reminiscent of the brilliant Who Framed Roger Rabbit, though the world and the story isn’t nearly as interesting. The battles between Tom and Jerry are mostly faithful extensions of their scuffles in the classic series, but the humor itself is lukewarm at best. Moretz gives it her all and almost ends up salvaging the material, but everything else around her falls flat. The human characters aren’t fleshed out enough to make their screentime worth sidelining Tom and Jerry.
If the movie had leaned in more towards the outlandish and slapstick nature of the duels between Tom and Jerry, it might have become exciting enough to make the weak story work. As it stands, however, things fall apart and come together in a whimsical and convenient fashion. Things go wrong very easily at the end of act two, and they are fixed even more easily in the climax. At least, the film doesn’t try to make Tom and Jerry resolve their rivalry and become friends. While the two do collaborate for a limited time to help Kayla, things go back to their usual routine before long.
There aren’t enough good elements in Tom and Jerry to recommend it to a casual audience, especially if you don’t have nostalgia for the duo’s original series.
Even if you are a fan, the film feels watered down compared to the hijinks the duo would get into in the original series. If you feel nostalgic about the main characters, seeing some of the classic episodes is a better idea, especially since there are also on HBO Max.
