After just five minutes, Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse accidentally activated an ancient talisman during one of their scuffles – thereby opening a magical portal to a Chinese world of gods. Another five minutes later, a bright green flying devil and a laser-shooting unicorn fight against a mechanical dragon, which is commanded by a mega-rat that has mutated into a villain due to childhood trauma. After the animated adventure “Tom & Jerry: The Film” (1992) and the live-action hybrid detour “Tom & Jerry” (2021), the third film from the iconic brawlers is certainly not what fans of the legendary cartoons – which, by the way, were only put together into a TV series in Germany – would have expected.
After it has long been common practice for Hollywood productions to be animated in the Far East for cost reasons, “Tom and Jerry: The Lost Compass” now comes entirely from China. Director and screenwriter Gang Zhang is obviously a fan of the animal duo himself: right at the beginning we see Tom rushing through the strings of a harp during a chase – and then sinking to the ground in slices. It seems a bit more disturbing in 3D than it did in the hand-drawn morning program, but it definitely matches the anarchic tone of the original. Nevertheless, its main influence seems to be the Chinese gods genre – and so “The Lost Compass” is even more reminiscent of a cheap version of the mythical megahit “Ne Zha 2”, which became the most successful animated film of all time last year with revenues of more than two billion dollars.
Don’t worry: Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse are fighting hard again in their third cinema adventure!
Here, American silent film slapstick meets Chinese fantasy overkill, until the two title heroes in the ultimately exuberant finale don’t actually get much more to do than avoid being trampled between the now mountain-sized god opponents. But even with these two opposing influences, where no attempt is made to explain why they should now fit together outside of the production circumstances, it is far from over: The mega-rat antagonist not only wants the divine compass to complete his Thanos-like glove – his mechanical tail is also immediately reminiscent of “Spider-Man 2” villain Doctor Octopus.
Is it perhaps a twisted form of international understanding if the pop cultures of the two major competing world powers are simply thrown together without any value? At least there is also a reference to the iconic Disney castle with fireworks in the background, although the rights to Tom & Jerry are now owned by the rival studio Warner Bros. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a dash of Greek mythology in the form of a Trojan horse in a seductive cat shape – and during a particularly hectic action scene, the Danube Waltz suddenly sounds, decelerating at least for a short time.
The Disney fireworks castle is also included in the general pop culture potpourri.
“Tom and Jerry: The Lost Compass” isn’t boring primarily because it’s all so completely crazy – and you’re constantly wondering what else those responsible are throwing into the intercultural mix. The story itself, on the other hand, quickly gets lost in a hyperactive and generic god fantasy overkill – so you should go straight to the genre leader “Ne Zha”. And while “Tom & Jerry” fans can hope for some nice allusions to the classic silent film skirmishes, at least in the first 15 minutes, the duo disappears further into the background as the film progresses.
The comedian Ryan George has had great success on YouTube for years with his “Pitch Meeting” format, in which he recreates in the most biting way possible how questionable business decisions are repeatedly made on the top studio floors. His episodes for “Thor 4: Love & Thunder”, “She-Hulk” and “Black Adam” are particularly popular. But even he would probably sink his teeth into a sketch version of the pitch meeting for “Tom and Jerry: The Lost Compass” – sometimes you just can’t beat the real madness.
Conclusion: Anyone who, even after decades, still has Udo Jürgens’ cartoon title song “But Please With Cream” in their ears will wonder after ten minutes at the latest whether they accidentally ended up in the wrong cinema. But this completely shameless pop culture potpourri, as if someone had randomly thrown cheeseburgers and dumplings into a blender, is actually the most interesting thing about “Tom and Jerry: The Lost Compass,” which otherwise drags quite a bit.