Illumination’s latest animated film, Migration, doesn’t quite soar as well when compared to their other in-house works. But against DreamWorks The Croods, both share a similar concept: The patriarch of the family doesn’t want their kids to leave the nest.
And in this film’s case, it’s in how Mack Mallard (Kumail Nanjiani) thinks home sweet home lies in the wetlands of New England than the Florida Keys. He does not believe his brood needs to head south. Whether that’s for a better world or because that’s what ducks do, he’s a creature of a different persuasion.
But eventually, the father caves in to the demands of his wife Gwen (Elizabeth Banks) and the kids (voiced by Caspar Jennings and Tresi Gazal). As they make their way south with Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito) in tow, a nasty tail wind sends them to New York, and that’s about when I lost interest. These ducks have trouble with deciding on what to do next, and end up having a city adventure that feels no different from Secret Life of Pets.
Had there been a subplot of finding other ducks who share their problem, I’d probably feel more invested in the shenanigans. But when the threat comes from the culinary world, and half of the ducks are unaware they’re being raised for slaughter, the conflict isn’t all that well defined. There’s no name attached to the operation or the people who simply see them as food. Fortunately no CGI animals were harmed in the making of this film, save for one off camera moment, but when there’s a figurehead to represent this threat, and he doesn’t get speaking lines, there’s something wrong!
Ultimately, the adventure isn’t all that quacked up to be when the plot shifts back and forth between two plots. There’s one about a family figuring out where they belong to another about not becoming some gourmet dish.
Although this studio is great at churning out some crazy worlds, this one doesn’t have anything special going for it. It’s tough to love this family because they aren’t unusual. Had they been dysfunctional like in Angry Birds or delved into some kind of relationship woe like in Rio, I’d say there’s a story. With this family, there’s not even a DarkWing Duck in-joke. Now that’d be a hoot, to see these mallards do something impossible. I’d laugh it up had they started wearing cloaks and hammed it up with saying we’re here to save you!
3 Stars out of 5
Migration Final Trailer
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