Tom and Jerry (2021) is a hit-and-miss film, never centers the cat and mouse at all, but it's still a decent movie.
In short, the film never focuses on Tom and Jerry but instead leans the spotlight to Kayla, who wants to show that she can be reliable by applying at a luxurious hotel. This is somewhat similar to the very first Tom and Jerry film, focuses more on the humans more than the main characters themselves. It's 40% on the actual characters, and 60% on the human character's growth.
Long time fans of the classic shows would notice that the characters like Butch, Spike, Toots, and the other alley cats never got enough spotlight, not that they overstayed their welcome, but most just went and go. Toots got another redesign, Spike doesn't have Tyke, Butch and the gang only showed up two times, and the animal characters like the pigeons and the street rat never showed up ever again. I do like Droopy's inclusion in the film, always a treat to see Droopy.
As for the story, it's very convoluted. At one time, it was Tom and Jerry staying at a hotel, then there was a wedding, then Tom and Jerry got sent to the pound after a baseball match, it's not a really good plot. Everything is scattered, and no one's even going to pick it up.
The blend of real humans and CGI characters blend well like Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Although I wished they would use 2D hand drawn animation, the CGI models they used for the characters made them look like 2D while also maintaining their actions, similar to the old Tom and Jerry cartoons.
The use of music, mostly 21st generation music, is a hit and miss. The music that's used at the fight at the Hotel room is befitting to the very destructive nature of the scene, but I think it will hit more if they used chaotic orchestra music like the old Tom and Jerry cartoons.
It's hard to get the cat and mouse's destructive force correctly nowadays, but for Tom and Jerry (2021), they are really destructive. Like, really destructive, and those moments where Tom and Jerry fight in the hotel, making those cartoon tornadoes with Spike in the fray, it's what makes the movie shine. I just wished we have more than of those moments, it feels like they only have a few.
Overall, it's not a bad movie, but it's just another generic Warner Bros. kids film aiming more on the current generation rather than bringing a new legacy of cartoon-violent cat mouse fights to a new audience. It feels like they just shoehorned the titular duo just to let it sell, but in the end, what can you do? Tom and Jerry almost work well at any scenario given..... just not when they talk often and never shut up.