Movie Review: 'Ratatouille'
Pros: Gee-whiz 3D animation, witty script, great voice cast
Cons: None
With the success of the Pixar/Walt Disney collaborative
efforts Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, and The
Incredibles, it looks as though animated films, particularly
computer-animated films, are experiencing a creative Renaissance as critics and
moviegoers of all ages are treated with features that are visually stunning,
wittily written, and are appealing to kids and adults alike.
Pixar, which started out as a tiny division of Lucasfilm Ltd and first wowed viewers with the short but visually stunning "Genesis Effect simulation" in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, continues its run of avant garde 3D animated hits with 2007's Ratatouille, a story of a French rat who joins forces with the son of a recently deceased chef to fulfill his dream of becoming, of all things, a gourmet cook.
Written and co-directed by Brad Bird (Iron Giant, The Incredibles) this 110-minute-long gem tells the story of how Remy the Rat (voice of Patton Oswalt) leaves his horde (that's what a community of rats is called) in a rural French farmhouse and heads to Paris to somehow learn how to cook like his idol, Chef Auguste Gusteau, owner of a famous Paris restaurant and author of Anyone Can Cook.
Once he arrives in Paris (after a harrowing eviction from the farmhouse and his leaving the horde), Remy is shocked to discover that Gusteau has passed away and that his dream of becoming a chef is blocked by the following obstacles:
1. He's a rat in a world of rat-hating humans.
2. The renowned food critic, Anton Ego (voice of Peter O'Toole) despises Gusteau's Anyone Can Cook and has downrated the restaurant's star rating,
3. Gusteau's is now run by the sleazy, scheming Chef Skinner (voice of Ian Holm), who wants to make money off the "Gusteau" name by affixing it to foods that are not even French.
4. His father, the stout and very set-in-his-ways Django (voice of Brian Dennehy) doesn't understand why Remy, whose senses of taste and smell are more attuned to human food and are the source of his genius for cooking, wants to go and live among humans.
Of course, this being a Pixar/Disney picture, Remy forms an unlikely alliance with both the spirit of Gusteau (voice of Brad Garrett) and the restaurant's new garbage boy, Linguini (voice of Lou Romano). He, too, has a connection with the restaurant and its original chef, one that will put him at odds with the nefarious Skinner and even the supercilious Anton Ego, who's not, as far as I can tell, a secret contributor to this blog.
Ratatouille's story is, on the surface, a variation on the "mismatched buddies who must work together" theme present in other animated films, but Bird, working from a story by co-director Jan Pinkava, knows how to win the hearts and mind of even the most jaded audiences.
Not only do Bird and executive producer John Lasseter give viewers a truly wonderful visual treat with the Oh...Wow!-inspiring animated effects crafted by Pixar's team of animators, but they bring to the fore a certain panache and wit that makes the audience forget the Pixar/Disney's "everything will be okay at the end" formula. Not only do we laugh at the comedic lines or stare wide-eyed with wonder at the 3D renderings of Paris and the surrounding countryside, but we actually find ourselves caring if Remy achieves his goal, if Linguini can cope with the hectic activities in a restaurant's busy kitchen, or if Colette (voice of Janeane Garofalo) will warm up to the "newbie" and help him (and his "little chef") win over Anton Ego's cold, cold heart and thwart Skinner's ambitious yet sleazy machinations.
If you haven't seen 2007's Academy Award-winning (for Best Animated Feature Film) Ratatouille yet and think it's just another kid-vid "cartoon" no better than Pablum, think again and rent or, yes, buy a copy. It's one of those rare movies that will make you believe in the tagline "It's fun for the whole family."
Pixar, which started out as a tiny division of Lucasfilm Ltd and first wowed viewers with the short but visually stunning "Genesis Effect simulation" in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, continues its run of avant garde 3D animated hits with 2007's Ratatouille, a story of a French rat who joins forces with the son of a recently deceased chef to fulfill his dream of becoming, of all things, a gourmet cook.
Written and co-directed by Brad Bird (Iron Giant, The Incredibles) this 110-minute-long gem tells the story of how Remy the Rat (voice of Patton Oswalt) leaves his horde (that's what a community of rats is called) in a rural French farmhouse and heads to Paris to somehow learn how to cook like his idol, Chef Auguste Gusteau, owner of a famous Paris restaurant and author of Anyone Can Cook.
Once he arrives in Paris (after a harrowing eviction from the farmhouse and his leaving the horde), Remy is shocked to discover that Gusteau has passed away and that his dream of becoming a chef is blocked by the following obstacles:
1. He's a rat in a world of rat-hating humans.
2. The renowned food critic, Anton Ego (voice of Peter O'Toole) despises Gusteau's Anyone Can Cook and has downrated the restaurant's star rating,
3. Gusteau's is now run by the sleazy, scheming Chef Skinner (voice of Ian Holm), who wants to make money off the "Gusteau" name by affixing it to foods that are not even French.
4. His father, the stout and very set-in-his-ways Django (voice of Brian Dennehy) doesn't understand why Remy, whose senses of taste and smell are more attuned to human food and are the source of his genius for cooking, wants to go and live among humans.
Of course, this being a Pixar/Disney picture, Remy forms an unlikely alliance with both the spirit of Gusteau (voice of Brad Garrett) and the restaurant's new garbage boy, Linguini (voice of Lou Romano). He, too, has a connection with the restaurant and its original chef, one that will put him at odds with the nefarious Skinner and even the supercilious Anton Ego, who's not, as far as I can tell, a secret contributor to this blog.
Ratatouille's story is, on the surface, a variation on the "mismatched buddies who must work together" theme present in other animated films, but Bird, working from a story by co-director Jan Pinkava, knows how to win the hearts and mind of even the most jaded audiences.
Not only do Bird and executive producer John Lasseter give viewers a truly wonderful visual treat with the Oh...Wow!-inspiring animated effects crafted by Pixar's team of animators, but they bring to the fore a certain panache and wit that makes the audience forget the Pixar/Disney's "everything will be okay at the end" formula. Not only do we laugh at the comedic lines or stare wide-eyed with wonder at the 3D renderings of Paris and the surrounding countryside, but we actually find ourselves caring if Remy achieves his goal, if Linguini can cope with the hectic activities in a restaurant's busy kitchen, or if Colette (voice of Janeane Garofalo) will warm up to the "newbie" and help him (and his "little chef") win over Anton Ego's cold, cold heart and thwart Skinner's ambitious yet sleazy machinations.
If you haven't seen 2007's Academy Award-winning (for Best Animated Feature Film) Ratatouille yet and think it's just another kid-vid "cartoon" no better than Pablum, think again and rent or, yes, buy a copy. It's one of those rare movies that will make you believe in the tagline "It's fun for the whole family."
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