Keeping with the holiday season and need for some family-friendly fun, I headed out to our theater and caught a midday showing of “Migration” with my sister.
While I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from the film based on the trailer it consistently kept me entertained and provided plenty of laughs for everyone in the theater.
Outside of that, there were a few segments that reminded me and my sister of our family road trips and experiences back when we all lived under one roof, too.
Migration is an animated adventure comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures.
The film was directed by Benjamin Renner, co-directed by Guylo Homsy, and produced by Chris Meledandri, from a screenplay written by Mike White and a story by White and Renner.
It stars the voices of Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, Caspar Jennings, Tresi Gazal, and Danny DeVito.
Clocking in at 83 minutes long, the movie is rated PG for action/peril and mild rude humor.
In Moosehead Pond somewhere in a New England forest, anxious Mack Mallard (Nanjiani) constantly discourages his kids Dax (Jennings) and Gwen (Gazal) from venturing into the outside world much to the displeasure of his wife Pam (Banks).
One day, the Mallards meet a flock of migrating ducks who are en route south to Jamaica which Pam, Dax, and Gwen find interesting, but Mack has no such interest.
Pam tells Mack that he must open his eyes to the world outside him.
That night, Mack talks with his aging Uncle Dan (DeVito) who also does not want to leave the pond.
However, Uncle Dan makes Mack second-guess his stance and decides to migrate with his family with Uncle Dan joining them at Gwen’s behest.
However, they end up going north instead of south.
During a rainstorm, they take up shelter in a swamp underneath a boardwalk where they encounter a crazed elderly heron named Erin.
She ends up bringing them to her shack to spend the night with herself and her husband Harry.
Despite their frightening disposition, the herons prove their good intentions by saving Dax and Gwen from a catfish.
The following day, the Mallards arrive in New York City where Uncle Dan wanders off and ends up getting the ducks in trouble with a flock of pigeons led by the gritty Chump (Awkwafina).
However, Pam’s assertiveness puts them in Chump’s good graces.
Chump leads them to her friend Delroy (Key), a macaw who is from Jamaica but lives caged by a human chef who owns him.
Wanting to set Delroy free, Mack and Pam infiltrate the restaurant where the chef works to acquire a key to his cage.
After evading the humans, they manage to get the key and free Delroy who gratefully guides them to Jamaica.
While Gwen stops for a bathroom break, Mack soon finds an entrance to a paradise full of Pekin ducks.
The funniest part of the whole bathroom stop is how it parallels so many of our family road trip experiences!
However, from there, the Mallards’ trip hits a new low, but I’m not going to spoil the surprise ending!
After all, you’re watching a kid’s movie, so the ending is definitely on the lighter side and worth waiting to see on the big screen.
