The classic cat and mouse duo find new mischief in this fast-paced, New York-based animated series. Tom and Jerry take up residence at the Royal Gate Hotel, where they incite chaos uptown, downtown and everywhere else their manic escapades lead them.
The overall content concerns for families stay in PG territory, but there is a fair amount of cartoon violence and some references to drugs and alcohol. Tom is often hit, kicked, smashed, choked, slammed, electrocuted and falls from serious heights. He also accidentally sabotages a train, a bus and an airplane. The cartoon mice get into all sorts of trouble with fancy ladies in fur coats, bellboys, hot dog vendors and a grand piano. They also cause a bunch of property damage, including a cartoonish animal tornado that tears through NYC.
There are a few modern touches that don’t quite work with this classic duo. A perky pop star checks into the hotel, and a jazzy song punctuates Tom and Jerry’s waiter rivalry. A flock of flamingos protects Jerry and Tuffy at the zoo. And the hotel’s rat-in-a-cage, Spike, fancies himself a canine king.
This reboot has a few moments of real wit and charm, but mostly it feels tired and desperate to be cool. The directors, Tim Story (Barbershop) and Kevin Costello (“Shaft”) try to give the characters a street-savvy tone that doesn’t fit. They fill the soundtrack with classic hip-hop, throw in jokes about Drake, T.I. and TikTok, and rework the original animation to make it seem a generation younger.
