Rent Migration (2023)

Migration review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

I think Illumination might’ve finally done it. They’ve finally made an animated film that works for their sloppy style of animated filmmaking. All it took was the right genre. A road trip comedy is the perfect type of film for their all-over-the-place method of cobbling together a whole bunch of animated gags into one movie. With Migration, it mostly works. It won’t make the studio shake the foundations of Pixar or Dreamworks in a way that goes beyond the easy box office appeal, but it’s for sure a step in the right direction.

The story is very simple. A family of mallards has only known life at a pond. The family patriarch, Mack (Kumail Nanjiani), uses his fears of predators to scare his two kids, Dax and Gwen, into never flying off to any new place. It’s a concept that is starting to bore his wife, Pam (Elizabeth Banks), who craves adventure. After the family meets some migrating ducks passing by on their way to Jamaica, they beg Dad for a trip. After witnessing the cynical old man that Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito) has turned into for sticking in one place, Mack is convinced to take a trip with the family.

A premise like that pretty much writes itself. Ducks go on a road trip and have road trip antics. Thankfully, the detours they have are pretty clever vignettes. They visit a spooky shack owned by a creepy heron voiced by Carol Kane, with the perfect mixture of eccentricity and eerie in her voice. The family takes a wrong turn and ends up in New York City, where they meet a surly pigeon leader voiced by Awkwafina and a homesick parrot voiced by Keegan-Michael Key. Later on, the family happens upon a paradise for birds that’s a front for a slaughtering ranch, obliviously orchestrated by a bird health guru voiced with the dry comedy of David Mitchell. All the while, the birds are trying to escape the grasp of an angry chef who is very bitter about letting birds escape from his kitchen without being cooked. That’s a weird obsession, but I guess he has to do something with that ridiculous helicopter he bought for his expensive restaurant business.

This picture has more charm than previous Illumination movies because the vignettes feel less like busy work for the main characters. Each stop gives sufficient time to grow Mack’s sense of taking risks and Pam’s sense of placing trust in her husband that wasn’t as present before. So, while the film would be fine with Illumination doing their regular thing of setting up an anthology of animated gags, they go a bit further in how they place these likable players that slightly grow with each bit. It also helps that this film feels less manic and has a few moments to slow down and appreciate the visual splendor of the environment. The settings of most Illumination films have always felt underwhelming because they usually exist in bland depictions of cartoon cities. But Migration not only adds more detail to the New York City location, but it brings out some beauty in the open nature of rural America and the eye-popping wonder of Jamaica.

Migration is the Illumination studio heading in the right direction. It’s decently funny, visually appealing, and feels more complete than any of their previous films to date. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this animated animal farce, and the kids at my screening seemed to be also digging into it. They probably also got in the mood early by the presence of an Illumination short featuring the iconic Minions characters the studio is best known for. Having that short before the film provided the perfect context for how this studio can work well. Stuff like Minions is funny for a few slapstick gags before running out of steam. Stuff like Migration is an animated comedy better built for the long haul.