Migration (2023)

 

Genre: Comedy/ Family

Time: 1h 22mins

Directors: Benjamin Renner, Guylo Homsy

Quick Summary: A family of ducks try to convince their overprotective father to go on the vacation of a lifetime.

It's fun, enjoyable and cute. What else could you ask for?

I have noticed a decline in kids' films over the last few years. They either, weren't that impressive, overstimulating, didn't teach them anything, or were just straight-up terrible. Sure, kids won't really notice the difference between an Oscar-winning beautifully animated film that shows them so many life lessons, or cocomelon, but adults need to have something to endure while bonding with their kids. This is enjoyable for both. 

There is something so mature and charming about this as a whole and I can't quite put my finger on it. The family feels so realistic in terms of a family dynamic, everyone has a part and starts out with their own little unique quirks and aren't just reduced down to the stereotypes, like, a gentle mother, or sister who tattles and cries all the time, or headstrong too-cool-for-school brother. They all branch out a bit and portray real qualities. My personal favourite was the young girl (Bird? Duck? Ducket? Girl Duckling?), as honestly she was such a sweetheart and was just straight-up adorable. Every time she was on screen she was just so warming and fun to watch, and her lines were so cute. 

In terms of the animation, I was actually really impressed with how nice it looked. For them being birds, they were really expressive too! Which, at first it looked really strange to see birds with eyebrows, but it's cleverly put as patterns on their skin so I got used to it pretty quickly. Also, the use of their wings was pretty clever, as they didn't quite work like hands and arms, but sort of similar to that, using feathers to point or their wings to grab things. I also really liked the art style and the chosen colour pallet, because looking at this through the eyes of a kid, it's nice to not see bright neon colours and instead nice soft pastles as I can imagine it's a much calmer experience for them.

You know, being that I'm actually an adult, I found this to be very funny. I mean Awkwafina is in this, so it's bound to be funny. Regardless of her, the jokes all landed really well for most of this. It was nice that they didn't resort to annoying sounds or fart jokes, or just really cringey slapstick/stupid moments. There were jokes adults would appreciate too (and they weren't dirty believe it or not). When one of the ducklings needs to pee, so the other suggests going in the sky since they were flying and the younger one freaks out over it saying it was gross and that they needed to land, which the mother refuses. Then there are some back and forwards arguments before, eventually, it cuts to the group on the ground as the young kid runs off to go to pee as they're all standing there deadpan. It's all gentle poking at various family elements all for fun. 

The only complaint I had about this is that the story wasn't amazing. Obviously, it was made to keep young kids constantly interested, don't get me wrong it is entertaining, but it was a bit simple. I didn't really choose to do anything out of the box. But who cares, this is a kid's film, directed towards kids. Of course, it's going to be simple. 

A super fun and enjoyable experience that I'm sure anyone of any age will be able to enjoy. As well I'm sure it will make a fun family bonding time. 

9/10

"Delroy: In Kitchen, he'll make you into duck a l'orange.

Gwen: What's "duck a l'orange"?

Chump: It's you with "l'orange" on top."

"Gwen: He says he's gonna marry her.

Dax: What? I didn't say that!

Gwen: You said it with your eyes."