Why So Blu?

Tom & Jerry: The Movie (Blu-ray Review)

Tom & Jerry: The Movie gets a distinction of being the first film in the pandemic era to exceed its box office expectations upon coming out. The film managed to do so while also having a dual release as part of the HBO MAX premium deal going on throughout 2021. And now, its time for the animated duo and their new pal Chloe Grace Moretz to come to Blu-ray. It’ll feature an Atmos track alongside an assortment of bonus features. It arrives on May 18th. You can pre-order the Blu-ray by clicking on the paid Amazon Associates review below, if you so please to do. Or not, that’s up to you.

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Film

A legendary rivalry reemerges when Jerry moves into New York City’s finest hotel on the eve of the wedding of the century, forcing the desperate event planner to hire Tom to get rid of him. As mayhem ensues, the escalating cat-and-mouse battle soon threatens to destroy her career, the wedding, and possibly the hotel itself.

I don’t have much positive to say regarding Tom & Jerry: The Movie. My kids enjoyed it well enough, so that matters. But watching it with them? Whoo boy, what a chore. The film is a bit of a hodge podge of slapped together sequences of the duo while trying to make us care about a big celebrity socialite wedding. Its a bit tough. It can only get by on the charms of Chloe Grace Moretz, Michael Pena and Rob Delaney for so long.

To add to it all, Tom & Jerry‘s endeavors don’t really do a whole deal of good for anyone. I get that they are ruffians and mess stuff up, but in the film they are really mucking up peoples’ lives. Its not too much unlike Disney’s Lilo & Stitch where a silly animated character causes absolute hell for the protagonists and we’re supposed to laugh and they are supposed to tolerate it? Yes, its just a silly kids movie, but its still frustrating to take in.

There are many set pieces to the film, but none of them really stand out much or are at all inventive. That goes in terms of technical ingenuity or just overall layout of them. They all wind up just being a chase and an animated scuffle. Stuff crashes and gets destroy. Lather, rinse and repeat. If things we’re freshly funny or impressive from a visionary standpoint, it would make up some ground here, but unfortunately, its just pretty static.

Yeah, I’m pretty hard on this movie. And at the end of the day, its meant for kids. Its one of those squarely aimed at them rather than those ones we parents get spoiled with frequently that satisfies us both. But, to all you parents who pick this up, I hope this one doesn’t wind up in your child’s heavily repeated rotation of movies.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: Tom & Jerry: The Movie Arrives on standard Blu-ray with a pretty top notch presentation. The image is a vivid one and looks rather polished in its aesthetic. Details and textures come through quite strong and varied in this sharp and crisp image. This is pretty much the best you could ask for without a 4K jump.

Depth:  The film features some great foreground and background relations with nice pushback and impressive “down the hallway” appearance. The animated characters don’t feel flat and feel three dimensional in the frame. Movements are natural and smooth with no issues regarding motion distortion.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and do well in shadowing and really complimenting and contrasting the color in the image. No issues with masking or hiding any details. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors are pretty bold and it carries a nice rustic look. The animated characters are really flashy and slick in their presentation and provide a nice pop.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish. Facial features and textures are quite visible from any reasonable distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby Atmos, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Descriptive Audio, French, Spanish, Portuguese,

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Dynamics: Tom & Jerry: The Movie is loaded with a Dolby Atmos track. The mix here is pretty well thought out and nicely balanced, giving a sense of openness to the environments. It has plenty of depth and a thoughtful design without going crazy. While we can’t have a 4K of the movie, this Atmos is a nice “I’ll meet you halfway” to include on the disc.

Height: There are plenty of nice touches from above. It never is extravagant, but there’s plenty to that flies over the frame and easily fills the up top channel.

Low Frequency Extension: Crashing, punching, scuffles, bass in the music and more get a good pounce from the subwoofer.

Surround Sound Presentation: All the speakers combine for a nice experience, bringing rooms and exteriors to life with good ambiance. They also work nicely in tandem to toss the action back and forth and up and down through a room. It rolls with solid power and makes for a more fun viewing.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extras

Tom & Jerry: The Movie comes with a redeemable digital code.

Deleted Scenes (HD, 13:34) – Has intros by Tim Story.

Gag Reel (HD, 3:01)

Tom & Jerry’s World (HD, 4:17) – A real brief run through how these characters act and the environment working with these animated characters. Kind of a mockumentary type bonus feature. Features a lot of perspective cam shots.

The Feud: #TeamTom vs. #TeamJerry (HD, 4:15) – Goes over the relationship of the rivals. People on the cast and crew tell who their favorite is. They also are continuing the whole “like they are real actors” gag.

Jerry’s “A House for a Mouse” (HD, 3:58) – A faux episode of a house show focused on Jerry with clips from the movie and a narrator.

The Tom & Jerry Guide to New York City Wildlife (HD, 4:52) – A little piece that goes over some of the animated animals featured in the film.

Inside the Wedding of Ben and Preeta (HD, 5:24) – Another faux program acting as an ET or whatnot based upon the socialite wedding. Featuring interviews with cast and such.

A Scene Comes To Life – Some actual “Making of” content that goes of previsualization, costuming and execution of putting these sequences in the film together.

• Scene #1: Ben and Preeta’s Wedding (HD, 5:11)
• Scene #2: Animal Lockup (HD, 3:54)

Summary

Tom & Jerry: The Movie features a lot of juvenile hijinks in clunky movie that feels much longer than it is. Warner Bros brings it to Blu-ray with a good presentation in both the video and audio departments. It has a list of extras, but many of them prove to be just fluff. Specs merit worthy ownership should you be brave enough to make this purchase.

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