Review: Family and robots in 'Mitchells vs the Machines'

Easily the most heartfelt movie about family life that also includes a robot apocalypse and a pug often mistaken for a loaf of bread, “The Mitchells vs

Easily the most heartfelt movie about family life that also includes a robot apocalypse and a pug often mistaken for a loaf of bread, “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” is an antic, irreverent animated delight that somehow doesn't sacrifice depth even as it hurtles forward at breakneck comic speed. Director Mike Rianda's film, produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, shares much of the DNA of Lord and Miller's other cartoon adventures ("The Lego Movie," “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”) in its ability to remake movie cliches with madcap irreverence, youthful zeal and a contemporariness that often eludes less freewheeling films. “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” which debuts Friday on Netflix (after originally being set for theatrical release from Sony Pictures), manages to spin through a sincere father-daughter relationship, our technology addictions, Instagram jealousy and general feelings of inadequacy while breezing though an end-of-the-world plot accidentally initiated by a reckless tech CEO. Oh, there are maniacal Furbys, too. But for all its fast-paced zaniness, “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” scripted by Rianda and his writing partner Jeff Rowe (also co-director), is basically a good old-fashioned family road trip movie, and the Mitchells slide in somewhere between the Griswolds and a more accident-prone Incredibles. They're neither a hopeless clan nor a perfect one (usually the only two options in family movies), but a flawed, loving family.