The Wasteland Reviewer

Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass (2026) Written Review

Have you been longing for a new twist on the classic cartoon duo of Tom and Jerry? The most recent adventure onto the big screen was a live action/cartoon hybrid that hit theaters and HBO Max. Unfortunately, that was a much-maligned attempt at putting these classic characters into a more modern context. The violent, slapstick charm of Tom and Jerry just didn’t fit well with modern jokes (especially with a distinct lack of understanding of what makes them fun to begin with). The most unexpected thing was a Chinese company collaborating with Warner Bros to bring a new Tom and Jerry film to the big screen. This classic pair of adversaries are transported to ancient China where they must team up with a group of magical entities to take on an evil ruler. 

Does this concept sound a little bizarre for a cat and mouse cartoon? It sure does and the longer the film goes, the more bizarre and inconceivable adaptation for these classic characters. The film opens with some classic shenanigans which are welcomed and honestly misleading. Tom is a night guard at a museum with ancient Chinese artifacts inside and Jerry just really wants to get in. There are fun gags with the first five minutes of the film delivering what makes sense. But they touch this artifact and get sent back into a completely strange world that feels out of left field. The narrative has a basic conflict at the center, and it is not enough substance to warrant this 90-minute runtime. For most of the runtime, it is a bunch of random nonsense that is not engaging, interesting, or honestly fun. There are just a bunch of colors smashing together until the antagonist is finally defeated. There is a message of teamwork and collaboration, which is obvious, but otherwise there is not much else to dig into. Within a few hours after watching this film, you won’t remember much of the film at all. 

Does director Gang Zhang do much with the animation team to bring this film to life? Well…it is colorful. The world-building is bold. But the animation is not always the most enticing to look at. Tom and Jerry look just fine and most importantly, they are recognizable in 3D animation. Most of the other characters are overly simplistic and lack detail. You can tell this does not have much budget behind it, which is frustrating because there is an ambitious world in this film. Justice isn’t truly done for the concept. The pacing of the film is unrelenting and oppressive. For 90 minutes, this just doesn’t let up. The film feels quite annoying after a small amount of time. The editing of the film is frenetic as well and ruins any good elements of action that might have brought some thrills. Outside of the classic slapstick elements of the protagonists, most of the humor of the film just falls flat. Unfunny, annoying, abrasive, and bizarre, Forbidden Compass feels like such a misguided attempt at bringing these classic characters back to life. 

Do these characters add much to the experience? For Tom and Jerry, they feel like their classic characterizations with their dialogue-less presentation. Their voice performances are minimal, but they work well for the characters. When this film keeps it simpler, it is certainly more effective. The fleeting moments of just Tom and Jerry doing their thing are the best parts of the film. Unfortunately, none of the other voice performances leave any type of impression (at least in the English language version). They are silly, indistinct, and forgettable. 

Seriously, who thought this was a good idea? There is just too much tonal, cultural, and style clashing here for this ambitious and bonkers idea to work. For some reason, no one can figure out what made Tom and Jerry so much fun in the first place. They also worked perfectly as a short form of entertainment. But with a story so grand, mystical, and erratic, the charm of these two characters just gets lost in the mess.