From Despicable Me to Hop to Sing to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, I am a huge fan of Illumination! I always feel that Illumination gets overlooked by Pixar and DreamWorks when they are every bit as good as those two studios. I saw a trailer for Migration towards the end of last year and thought that it looked fun.
How to Download Migration
Migration was released on December 22, 2023. About two months later you should be able to download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability.
The Movie Review: A Charming Animated Adventure
However, it was when I went to see Aquaman 2 that this movie’s charm really caught me. For some reason, my theatre had a special Migration Christmas tree that was covered in ornaments of the ducks (well mallards if you want to get technical about it) from the movie! I got such a kick out of that, that it sold me on going to see this in the theatre.
We have a family of ducks that are the main characters, who live in a safe pond surrounded by trees somewhere in New England. This duck family is led by the father Mack who is always scared that something is going to happen and wants nothing to do with the outside world that exists beyond his forest and pond.
Exploring Family Dynamics and Adventure in Migration
As well as Mack, we have the mother duck, Pam who wishes that Mack would be more adventurous. Mack and Pam’s kids Dax and Gwen are really lively and would love to have some excitement in their lives. I got such a kick out of how much like a real family this group was, only they were ducks!
They meet a migrating group of ducks who tell them they are heading to Jamaica for the winter. Pam and the kids think the idea of migrating to Jamaica for the winter sounds interesting, but Mack thinks it is too dangerous. It is old Uncle Dan who is the uncle of Mack that makes him reconsider. This leads to Mack, his family, and old Uncle Dan deciding that they are going to migrate.
A Fun-Filled Family Movie with Heart
Well, instead of going South, they end up going north and end up in a crazy situation with a heron before arriving in New York City. The ducks end up getting into trouble with a chef and with the help of some friends that they meet along the way, they sure as hell have one wild mother-ducking adventure!
This is just a fun family movie that has a lot of laughs even though they are ducks. I am sure this will be a very relatable family dynamic for many people. It has a lot of fun slapstick-style comedy with wild and crazy characters, but like all good family movies, Migration has a ton of heart and at the end of the day, family and being together is what this is about, especially the bond between a father and a son.
Final Thoughts on Migration and Its Visual Appeal
As this is a movie from Illumination, it looks fantastic. The ducks and all the other characters have big expressive faces and eyes that show a ton of emotion. We also have a great voice cast with such talented actors as Kumail Nanjiani, Keegan-Michael Kay, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, and the always-great Danny DeVito.
Sadly, it looks like Migration is going to be Illumination’s lowest-performing movie. It is a real shame too as this is a movie that I thought was a lot of fun. It made me laugh, it has some intense (well intense for an animated movie) scenes and it has some very likable and relatable characters. If you are on the fence about this one, get off it and go and see it while it is still in theatres, especially if you have younger movie lovers in your family!
