Illumination has made quite the splash in the animation industry over the past decade; exploding onto the scene with Despicable Me and turning that into a billion-dollar franchise, landing a few lucrative Dr. Suess adaptations, and finally sealing the deal with Nintendo to produce The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was wildly successful when released earlier this year. Usually Illumination films make a big splash when released, but interestingly this original film Migration has quietly waded into theaters with little fanfare. Is this duck a good egg or a dud?
Set in the secluded and serene Moosehead Pond in New England, Migration tells the story of a family of Mallard ducks. Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) is an anxious helicopter parent, constantly dissuading his children, Dax (Caspar Jennings) and Gwen (Tresi Gazal), from going too far from the pond; however, his wife, Pam (Elizabeth Banks), wants her children to be more free-range. After a flock of ducks migrating to Jamaica stops in their pond for the night, the children meet the other ducks and want to join along. Mack initially refuses, but is pushed out of his comfort zone by his Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito), finally allowing the whole family to go on an adventure and fly south. But the Mallard family soon finds out that this adventure isn’t going to be smooth sailing as they imagined.
Penned by the talented Mike White, Migration is a basic, entertaining, and funny story that sticks to the road trip movie formula. The character designs are cute and appealing and it’s fun meeting different species of birds along the way, from exotic birds like scarlet macaws and great blue herons to mundane birds like pigeons. However, the film tries too hard the over-the-top villainous human chef subplot, deterring from the family drama, which created sufficient conflict on its own.
Mack feels like Marlin, the overly protective father, from Finding Nemo, but without the same depth of a traumatic backstory. The neurotic parent trope is a bit overdone, but it works in the end for character development and growth. The other family members in the film are interesting and the story works best when centered on the family conflict instead of the new characters they meet on their journey.
At first glance, Migration may seem like a generic animated film not worth your time, but it’s surprisingly a charming, enjoyable—if somewhat conventional—family film. And since it’s Illumination, we really shouldn’t have expected anything less, proving that you don’t have to make a big splash to have a good time.
Migration hits theaters on December 22, 2023.
★★★★
