“Migration” is a family-friendly animated adventure about a milquetoast duck finding the courage to take his family into the unknown. However, its thin plot prevents it from being extraordinary.
“Migration” follows the Mallards, a mild-mannered family of ducks who are aching to go on an adventure. While Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) is the anxious and overprotective patriarchal duck who harbors irrational fears of the outside world, Pam (Elizabeth Banks), Mack’s wife, is eager to take her ducklings Dax Mallard (Dax Mallard) and Gwen Mallard (Tresi Gazal) and show them the wonders outside of the pond. When Mack reluctantly agrees to travel south toward Jamaica, they discover there will be a lot of detours along the way, including landing in Jamaica, New York where they meet Chump (Awkwafina), a piegon who takes offense if you call her by her name. She introduces them to Delroy (Keegan-Michael Key), a prized Jamacian bird imprisoned by a muscular nameless chef who specializes in duck-a-la-ornage. While there are dangers with those unexpected stops, like a brief reprieve in what looks like a duck sanctuary but is something far more sinister, each of them leads to a reward that will bring the Mallards closer together and help them discover something about themselves that they never knew before they started their grand adventure.
Nanjiani’s Mack is the typical overprotected dad who is skeptical of everything he encounters. That anxious energy he brings to the comedy stage fits perfectly with the character he is voicing as Mack does anything to extinguish the spark of interest of exploring outside the pond. Bank’s Pam couldn’t be any more different, making her the perfect contrasting partner. As the daring and open-minded matriarch of the Mallard family, Pam wants to show the family what the world has to offer and does so by pushing them to go outside their comfort zones.
Though “Migration” is an original story that explores themes of family curiosity and the rewards of stepping outside your comfort zone, its incredibly thin plotting and low-stakes humors prevent it from soaring to new heights. Rather than storytelling risks that give the character development any depth, the film plays it safe and the Mallards hardly encounters any sort of conflict or threats, other than a nameless chef with an axe to grind against the family of ducks who liberated his prized Jamaican-accented parrot from his gold cage. The laughs are too few and far between each other, with much of it coming from Mack’s frantic and overprotective personality. He tells the kids bedtime stories in grim detail of what happens to ducks if they fly outside the pond. Of course, Pam is there to switch things up with her optimistic and upbeat personality. She strikes that balance between adventure and practicality and, like any matriarch, encourages everyone in the family to be the best version of themselves. Something that takes flight when their journey begins. It’s a contrary personality that should work on screen but ultimately fails to take hold. While their diametrically opposed personalities have a dynamic that you’d find in a 90s family-friendly sitcom, the rote bantering and dialogue between the two lack chemistry. Either the timing between the two feels off, or they aren’t on the same wavelength. Whatever it is, it feels like the film was put together with respective actors just reading off the script, it doesn’t feel like they are engaging in conversation or bantering. However, there are some moments when the pair shine through a series of unexpectedly hilarious Salsa dances while avoiding getting stepped on by humans. Making the mother the level-headed, fearless leader of the group who calls out Mack’s anxieties and fears but in a healthy roasting way switches the family dynamics up in a fun way that would make kids laugh and cheer. Just don’t expect the older folks to react the same way.
The script by Mike White, from a story he came up with alongside Benjamin Renner, attempts to convey that the Mallards are just like any other family, only with a few avian jokes. The film’s runtime makes “Migration” move like a three-episode arc of a family-friendly sitcom and, as such, the pacing and tone are more paint-by-numbers than something filled with surprising twists. Its plot has been used repeatedly, only to be slightly adjusted to reflect the current times and the modern family. So, a family goes on a grand adventure outside of the safety of the neighborhood pond they’ve only ever known. They meet friends they thought were enemies and get into fish-out-of-water predicaments, which are resolved rather breezily and with minimal effort. Of course, the family gets into a conflict over some disagreement, and then they get themselves out of it because nothing can break the unbreakable bonds of a family’s love. It’s all something that we’ve seen before and doesn’t add anything new or exciting to keep us fully interested.
These gorgeous animation sequences play into either the natural beauty autumn brings to Northeast America or how lovely New York looks as a concrete jungle. And some of the one-shot animated takes feel like Universal has a ride planned for one of their theme parks based solely on one of the Mallard’s adventures. Seeing them swiftly swoop in and out of cranes, dodge cars, and fly in between structures was incredible, and watching them glide through the soft and warm orange-colored skies was relaxing. However, just as soon as we are whisked away to these beautiful landscapes and sky, the film abruptly takes us back to the story we are trying to forget. The grunting, bulky French-trained chef obsessed with embossing everything he wears and flies in with a Heihachi Mishima tiger emblem is the chief antagonist as he specializes in cooking duck-a-la-orange. So, one could see why the Mallards fear him. And yet, he stumbles around like the classic cartoon villain whenever the ducks foil his plans. It’s perfectly harmless physical comedy. It’s that nostalgic comedy style where “Migration” excels. The adorable ducklings play their parts perfectly, with Dax being the confident teen who wants to prove to his dad he can be independent. He has that adventurous spirit to discover what is out there, yet he is also emotionally vulnerable. Something which the film skims on when he and Mack get into a tiff. As the youngest duckling of the Mallard family, Gwen’s sweetness and wide-eyed naivety has the potential to get her family into the kind of trouble that is bound to generate a few laughs. She’s that typical youngest child of the family who would extend her pleases until she either runs out of breath or her eyes bulge out of her skull. Even curmudgeous Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito) adds some levity with adventure-averse prose and kind heart.
Just because “Migration” and most of Illumination’s features don’t resonate with me doesn’t mean it’s a lousy film. It’s something that doesn’t ask for much and presents a story about overcoming the fears of venturing out of your comfort zone, connecting with family, loving others, and finding the strength to become your most authentic self in a simplified way. There’s nothing wrong with that because kids will eat up those crucial lessons instantly while laughing at this colorful and ducky adventure, while parents will find the irony in a story that plays it safe and refuses to do something bold to become something truly great.
7/10
Migration is in theaters December 22, 2023.
