Migration Review Roundup

Illumination is already flying pretty high this year largely in thanks to their massive box office hit The Super Mario Bros. Now, they look to close out 2023 above the clouds with their Christmas cinematic release Migration. But, did this bird soared with critics? Or did it crash and burned? Here's the review roundup:

Continue reading below for the written version

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (Lovia Gyarkye)
'I’m praising Migration so effusively because it is, above all, an enjoyable film made with heart and a respect for its audience. Sure, there are rough patches ( a bit about a vengeful chef overstays its welcome), but most of that can be forgiven. Renner’s direction animates key moments. Scenes of the Mallards soaring, quite gracefully, through the clouds or huddled together as they try to cross a busy intersection visually affirm their love and intimacy. A well-assembled cast of voice actors brings the characters to life. Migration‘s considerable appeal perhaps lies in the simplicity of its premise: The hardest part of embarking on any new journey is taking off.'

For the full review please visit here.

INDIEWIRE (Kate Erbland)
'Wacky hijinks ensue, colorful animation (computer-animated, but harkening back to Renner’s comic book bonafides) spills from the screen, and the ducks (plus the pigeon, plus the parrot, plus whoever else they find along the way) are soon spinning their way through a wild adventure punctuated by a bad guy in a helicopter. It is very silly and often strange, but it’s also sweet and funny, and damn it all if you don’t start to really care about this odd little family.

It may zing and zag in unexpected formations — again, there absolutely is an entire other film about a duck family lost in Central Park; I beg someone to make this ASAP — but it all soars along at a genial enough clip. Does it stick the landing? Enough to make us wonder about the path the Mallards are going to take after this first migratory foray, another journey for another day (go back to Central Park!).'

For the full review please visit here.


THE GLOBE AND MAIL (APARITA BHANDARI)
'There’s nothing controversial in French filmmaker Benjamin Renner’s film. This is a feel-good movie that offers a little bit of an escape for families with no plans for a vacation to warmer climes. The humour is gentle, and the ensemble cast maintains the tone, although a scene or two may momentarily terrify a truly sensitive toddler (as was evident by a couple of adorable shrieks in my screening).'

For the full review please visit here.

VARIETY (Peter Debruge)
'Even at just 70-something minutes (before credits), the movie seems to take forever getting to its destination, delivering its funniest bit up front in the form of “Mooned,” a 10-minute short that catches up with “Despicable Me” villain Vector (Jason Segel) in exile. And thus, “Migration” finds a way to work in Minions. That’s essentially what Illumination audiences want anyway. Not ducks. In that department, Donald and Daffy pretty much have it covered. Among this year toons, the chickens ran away with the show. Or, as that poet of poultry Ogden Nash put it, “Behold the duck. It does not cluck. A cluck it lacks. It quacks.”'

​For the full review please visit here.

SEATTLE TIMES (Soren Andersen)
'It’s all big action. Big colorful visuals. Outsized vocal performances. Keegan-Michael Key, voicing a bright red hyperactive parrot, practically strains his vocal cords as, freed from a cage, his character performs dazzling aerobatics with celebratory squawks of freedom. And that’s pretty much the way it goes in “Migration.” Animated fun for the whole fam-. Er. Check that. Fun mostly for kids between 5 and 12 or so, I’d say. Older audience members might quickly find themselves afflicted with the fidgets.'

For the full review please visit here.

​MAMA'S GEEKY (Video Review)

In the end, the film amassed a pretty decent score of 72% from 39 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

So it may not have been the greatest film illumination had ever produced, but it does seem majority of the critics did find the movie somewhat enjoyable. 

Is that enough to get you aboard this flight? As per usual, that might come down to what the little ones are feeling for this Christmas.  

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