Movie Review: ‘Migration’ is Illumination’s best film since ‘Despicable Me’
“Migration” is one of Illumination’s best movies, bringing some of the best comedy and story since “Despicable Me.”
With a description of “a family of ducks decides to leave the safety of a pond for an adventurous trip to Jamaica,” I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from Illumination’s new film, “Migration.” The trailers made the movie seem very basic while also seeming desperate by using Taylor Swift’s “Out of the Woods” as the trailer song. After walking out of this new animated film, my expectations could not have been more wrong.
Right from the start you are comforted with the familiar voices of Kumail Nanjiani (Mack) and Elizabeth Banks (Pam), which is always nice. Both Kumail and Elizabeth perfectly voice these duck parents as they try to navigate their family’s next step in life. Something about the constantly frantic voice from Kumail and the empowering voice from Elizabeth just felt right. That’s without mentioning the supporting voices from Akwafina (who seemingly voices every character for every movie ever), Keegan-Micheal-Key, and Danny Devito – there’s not a weak link in this cast. Sometimes I get worried and feel like there is always one character in an animated film I will inevitably find annoying, luckily that was not the case here.
The story itself is rather basic, it doesn’t take many risks, but that isn’t a bad thing. Despite the basic “family road trip” story outline, I still found myself enjoying many of the typical roadblock plot points of the film. After the credits rolled, I wondered who wrote the film, and once again I was pleasantly surprised to see it was Mike White (“The White Lotus”, “School of Rock”). Being pleasantly surprised seems to be a theme with “Migration.”
Early on in in “Migration,” my mouth dropped, not from something funny or something crazy that happened in the movie, but because of John Powell’s score. You always know when you notice a score it either must be the worst score ever, or the best score ever, with no in-between. This score was not of the bad variety. As soon as I left the theater I found myself adding certain pieces from the score to my Spotify playlist.
If it were a year where “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” don’t come out in the same year, I would say “Migration,” is easily the best-animated film of the year. But unfortunately, that’s not the case. With that being said, “Migration,” is loads of fun and is another great family film releasing this holiday season. I’m hoping it does not get overlooked during award season.
Rating: 4/5 – “Migration” is rated PG and hits theaters Dec. 22, 2023. There are no post-credit scenes.
Attractions Magazine Reporter Joseph Spencer also saw “Migration”. Here’s his video review:
In The Parks
With Illumination being owned by Universal there have been some small activations in the Universal parks, most specifically the Giant inflatable Gwen (the youngest in the Mallard family) that can be found at Universal Studios Orlando. Some of the characters can also be met at Universal Studios Hollywood. You’ll find select “Migration” merchandise can be found in Universal CityWalk.
