Illumination, the studio that brought us Gru and the Minions, brings many adventures to a family of ducks voiced by Elizabeth Banks, Danny DeVito and Kumail Nanjiani migration.
Mack (voice of Kumail Nanjiani in the original version), Pam (voice of Elizabeth Banks) and their children Dax (voice of Caspar Jennings) and Gwen (voice of Tresi Gazal) are a quiet working-class family living in a pond with their Uncle Dan ( spoken by Danny DeVito). One day they come across another family of birds preparing to migrate to Jamaica. It doesn't take much for the five ducks to decide to travel.
Conceived by Mike White (the colorful series “The White Lotus” on HBO/Crave) and directed by Frenchman Benjamin Renner (the animated film “Ernest and Célestine”), “Migration” quickly becomes an adventure feature film. Because Mack, Pam, Dan and the kids will first encounter a pair of worrisome herons before ending up in New York, where they have trouble with the city's pigeons and a leader whose only goal is to put them in the oven .
Produced by Chris Meledandri, head of Illumination Studios and mastermind behind the phenomenal success of Despicable Me and the subsequent Minions, Migration contains elements of that. The 3D computer drawing is simple, colorful, almost “plastic” and ensures that little cinemagoers quickly understand what is happening on the screen, especially due to the variety of birds depicted – ducks, herons, pigeons, parrots and geese.
A scene from the film “Migration”.
The story is full of funny twists and jokes that are also aimed at adults and make watching “Migration” even more fun.
Certain scenes are inspired by poetry, like that snowball fight with clouds or arriving in Jamaica among a flock of colorful parrots. And as icing on the cake, “Migration” comes after “Mooned,” a short film in which Vector, the villain from “Despicable Me,” and some Minions attempt to leave the moon.
Migration hits theaters across the province on December 22nd.
Rating: 3 out of 5