¡Patos!

GREAT VALUES, LOVELY STORY, NO EXPLICIT THEMES!! I honestly took a step back when I first saw this. I am ALWAYS extremely critical of movies lately, especially since recently Illumination, Disney, and even a recent Dreamworks movie have fallen flat, but wow!

This is truly a family film that is appealing to ALL audiences. Kids have laughs at gags, adults have entertainment from parenting and general themes, and they even poke fun at grandparents, who still are made out to be cool and fun-loving by the end.

From both a filmmaker and huge movie fan's perspective, it is extremely refreshing to see a kids movie have good values, no explicit themes, and still be very entertaining! The story and plot was well worked out and everything made sense. The music was fantastic (a solid original score, no spammed pop music like most kids movies). The animation was adorable and very enjoyable to watch. It was also super refreshing to see new/underground talents showcased! A lot of less known names but a fantastic job done (especially the voice actors)!

I'm really impressed and wish to express from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making such a great family film, creating a safe space for families to enjoy a movie without oversexualized themed, over the top toilet humor, extreme violence, etc. 9/10!!!

Overall, not a half bad illumination movie.

The movie's environments were beautiful. Easily my favorite part of the movie. I loved the watercolor-esque trees. Also, the designs of some of the humans, especially the main antagonist, are pretty nice and creative. The jokes weren't nearly as "cringey", and landed for the most part. (hah, get it, cause the movies about ducks... migrating). The humor in this movie feels more family-focused, rather than purely for the kids.

As for the negatives, the story is fairly linear, and not too interesting. The overall theme is very obvious, so it isn't too deep. All in all, a typical illumination movie.

Overall, a decent Illumination movie. Just plain family fun. If you want to be fairly entertained, and laugh with your kiddos, this is a good movie.

'Migration' is a really well-made family film. It's a simple premise about anthropomorphic ducks - the father duck, Mack (Nanjiani), wants to protect his children/chicks, Dax (Jennings) and Gwen (Gazal), and the mother duck, Pam (Banks), wants them to experience the world and gain some experience. They meet some other ducks migrating south for the winter - they're presumably in North-Eastern USA - so they decide to do the same, with quirky uncle Dan (DeVito) in tow.

What follows is both a semi-familiar road-trip comedy, as well as a refreshing take on family, trying new things and helping others. There's a great support cast, as the duck family passes through New York City and meets Chump the pigeon (Awkwafina), Delroy the macaw (Key), as well as Erin the heron (Kane) and GooGoo (Mitchell) - either a goose or a white duck. There's a nice jail-break sequence for Delroy, which sets up the human antagonist, the Chef.

For some reason the Chef also has a Chinook and hunts them down, leading to Dax and Gwen having to step-up. The animation is a nice mix of cartoonish and realistic, and it looks excellent, especially at the end. There's no overly-scary moments, some teachable themes, the voice cast is all good and there's consistent laughs throughout. There's also 'Mooned', the 9-min 'Despicable Me' tie-in at the start of the film, which kids seemed to love.

I recently watched the movie Migration (2023) in theaters with my daughter. The storyline follows a northeastern family of ducks 🦆 who encounter a flock of migrating birds that invite them to fly south for the winter. Despite their usual winter stay, the family convinces the dad to fly to Jamaica 🇯🇲 this year, and an adventure ensues.

This movie is co-directed by Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine) and Guylo Homsy (Eddie's Life Coach) and features the voices of Kumail Nanjiani (Stuber), Danny DeVito (Twins), Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians), Keegan-Michael Key (Wonka), and Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games).

The animation in this picture is outstanding, while the rest of the film is fairly average. The storyline is straightforward, with a few worthwhile subplots. I particularly enjoyed the husband and wife working together through various circumstances for the betterment of the family. The voices are well selected, and Awkwafina and DeVito comedic content keep the film well-paced. The conclusion is as expected, though its sequel potential remains uncertain.

In conclusion, Migration is a fun family animated picture with enough worthwhile elements to make it worth a watch, but it doesn't stand out in the genre. I would score this a 5.5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Migration is just a simple adventure, but still an enjoyable film on its own. It does have a predictable story and an unneeded villain for a movie about migrating. But it still provides things to be a decent film thanks to great animation, some cute jokes that I at least chuckled, and as someone that loves to travel, it does have the heart of venturing the world. I think it would be worth watching at least once. But I do think that the kids will love it for the funny characters and a tale that they will easily get into more than adults would. Like The Super Mario Bros Movie and the other films Illumination has made, it's not the best movie of the year. I do think this movie is pretty simple, but pretty cute for a migrate adventure.