YMMV / Tom & Jerry (2021)

• Base-Breaking Character: Kayla leans between this and The Scrappy. Many enjoy her fitting role as the mother-figure who has to deal with the cat and mouse's shenanigans, her much-needed Character Development and Hidden Depths that ties with the development of the cat and mouse. Others, however, dislike that much of the screen time is primarily devoted to her, giving them the impression that Tom and Jerry are secondary characters in their own film.
• Critical Dissonance: Audiences found the movie more charming than the critics did. It certainly helps that it was released during a time when people were seeking more optimistic, lighthearted fare due to ongoing events throughout the world.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Cameron the hotel bartender has received a small but dedicated fanbase for being both the Nice Guy and Only Sane Man in addition to having palpable chemistry with Kayla.
• Ho Yay:
  • The Valentine's Day promo.
  • Kayla lures Preeta to a surprise wedding and begs her for a second chance while holding flowers toward her at the altar. You’d be forgiven for forgetting Ben is the actual groom considering he’s not even in the shot.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Quite a few of the gags with Tom and Jerry are very similar to the original MGM cartoons. However, the animators confirmed that the intent was a dedicated homage to the cartoons, while throwing their own spin on them that would fit the scenarios.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • Ironically, Tom and Jerry themselves. The scenes exclusively involving them fighting each other are widely hailed as the best parts of the movie for their well-done slapstick.
  • A lot of Latin American fans are here for the appearances of reggaeton artists Nicky Jam and Ozuna.
  • For Italian fans, the main reason is the short cameo of comedian and TV host Paolo Bonolis.
• Memetic Mutation: There was no shortage of jokes and memes involving Tom and Jerry after Zack Snyder's Justice League was accidentally leaked on HBO Max via this film's file, such as this montage, with the little girl from Ralph Breaks the Internet wanting to watch Tom & Jerry and getting scared by Steppenwolf's face instead.
• Older Than They Think: This is far from the first time the titular characters have appeared in a live-action/animated movie hybrid. One of the earliest instances of this was the famous "Gene Kelly dancing with Jerry" scene from Anchors Aweigh, which came out back in 1945.
• The Scrappy: Whatever you think of the other human characters of the movie, hardly anyone is fond of Preeta and Ben for being a major case of Spotlight-Stealing Squad that lack of any interesting traits to make up for it, despite the movie constantly mentioning how awesome they are. Not helped by the third act being focused on fixing their Second-Act Breakup over Tom and Jerry's antics or even Kayla's arc.
• So Okay, It's Average: As Rotten Tomatoes puts it: "It isn't the worst of the long-squabbling duo's feature-length adventures, but Tom & Jerry is disappointingly short on the anarchic spirit of their classic shorts." In other words, the general consensus is it's not bad and animation buffs have cited it's better than the '92 movie (not that that's saying much) as the story is at least built around Tom and Jerry's antics, with praise given for the models being true to the source, cameos of fellow characters from Tom and Jerry lore, and consistency of the animals being traditionally animated instead of being realistically computer-generated. But the movie is still bogged down due to the human side plot taking up much of the time and being distracting from what audiences really came for, plus the animation not being perfect (likely a result of COVID hindering post-production), many of the actual Tom and Jerry scenes being shot-for-shot rehashes of scenes from the original cartoons, and some disapproval of the music choices which feel out of place. Overall, while it could've been better, it's still an acceptable watch that did have its heart in the right place.
• Tainted by the Preview: The initial trailer gave off the idea that it was going to be another Human-Focused Adaptation with all the focus on the hotel and the humans, making many fans worry that one of the biggest criticisms of the 1992 film went unheard. Sure enough, the biggest complaint towards the film among both audiences and critics is that there isn't enough Tom and Jerry, though to a lesser extent than expected.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Every time Tom's good and evil side argue, the evil side always insists Tom catch Jerry while the good side says the opposite. That would've been fitting... if it weren't for the fact that Jerry was trying to milk money off of him and ruined his street performer career (along with his piano) in the process.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Kayla can come off as this for some people, mainly due to her and the rest of the human characters taking screen time away from the titular duo. What also doesn't help is in her very first scene, she tricks someone into leaving their resume behind so that she can steal it and use it to get a job at the hotel.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The CGI animation is very fluid and expressive, and it captures the 2D animation stylings of the classic cartoons very well.
• Win Back the Crowd:
  • Fans were relieved that the movie chose to emulate the original MGM cartoons with Tom and Jerry's designs in the movie (via CGI stylized to look and feel like classic 2D) instead of the reviled hyper-realistic designs of movies of its kind in the past. Although some may wind up disappointed about a wasted opportunity to see how such realistic designs could have played out.
  • The plot of this one actually focusing on the duo's usual antics was likewise a plus to many, as their last theatrical outing barely featured them or kept them relevant in the plot. Many still say the film still doesn't focus enough on the cat and mouse, albeit the film still stays faithful to the plotlines, character roles, and content of the cartoons. Which were used as reference material for the script.
• The Woobie:
  • Tom is still the victim of about 90% of the slapstick violence caused by everything around him. And unlike the cartoons, it's not limited to Jerry, Spike, and the other alley cats. Fortunately, the writing gives him equal footing with Jerry. For the most part.
  • Angel Tom tries his best, but Devil Tom never actually engages with him in a proper argument and keeps tricking him away.
    Angel Tom: Well, I've got something to say!
    Devil Tom: Well, go ahead and speak then!
    Angel Tom: As I was saying- (Angel Tom is hit by a train)
    Devil Tom: Hahaha! Gotcha!

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