It’s kind of hilarious that Swapped ended up being Michael B. Jordan’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning role in Sinners. One is a hard R, vampire movie that’s also a rumination on culture, race, and music. The other is an animated film with talking animals from Netflix. They couldn’t be more different, and the release cadence was almost certainly not planned. But we still love it.
Netflix just released the first trailer for Swapped, which features Jordan in his first role after being awarded the Oscar for Best Actor, opposite Juno Temple, recently seen in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. They play mortal enemies who, thanks to a magical plant, swap bodies and go on an adventure to reverse it. It looks delightful. Check it out.
Besides Jordan and Temple, Swapped features the voices of Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Ambika Mod, and Lolly Adefope. It’s a fun cast and a great-looking movie. A little predictable? Sure. But hopefully, lots of heart.
There are two weird things going on here, though. One is that this is coming so soon on the heels of Hoppers. Hoppers is about a human who puts their consciousness into an animal, and this is about two animals swapping their consciousness. They’re different, of course, but just similar enough that being released within a few months of each other feels a bit creatively bankrupt.
The other thing is that the film is the latest film from Skydance Animation, which is where former Pixar chief John Lasseter now hangs his Hawaiian shirts. Lasseter, of course, left Pixar many years ago over allegations of sexual misconduct. That doesn’t necessarily doom the movie by any means, as Lasseter has an undeniable track record, and hundreds of other people worked on this movie. But it’s one of those things that’s worth noting.
That said, the main thing here is that Michael B. Jordan is following up Sinners with Swapped, and the oddity of it makes us smile. Hopefully, the movie does that too when it comes to Netflix on May 1.
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