Ratatouille (B or 3/4 stars)
Remy, a rat, has a nose for good food in 'Ratatouille', a Pixar animation directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles). Fancying himself a cook, he risks his life by entering the kitchen of Auguste Gusteau's 5-star restaurant. Things are rough for a rat in the culinary world. Most people want to kill rats, no less have them be their chef! Opportunity comes a knockin' when Alfredo Linguini, a janitor-with-chef-aspirations, teams up with Remy to cook fine cuisine. Remy hides under Linguini's new chef hat & dictates how to cook. If they can conquer head chef, Skinner (Ian Holm), & impress food critic, Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole), Linguini will win-over a girl, own a restaurant, and Remy will impress his family by proving his talent. The animation is amazing!! I just wish I loved the characters as much.
The film starts humorously as Remy tries to tell his family that eating human left-overs just won't do. Why settle for garbage when you can add a little of this, add a little of that and presto ... create a fresh, delicious masterpiece. His family thinks he's nuts. They think his only use is sniffing out potential rat poisons for his rat colony. But after they get separated by a terrible accident, Remy is thrust into Paris' hectic nightlife. Managing to get to the restaurant of his late-idol, Gusteau, Remy witnesses Linguini fouling up a soup order & takes it upon himself to fix it. The customers love the soup, and Linguini accepts Remy as culinary consultant and confidante. Remy can't believe Gusteau appears for him as a sort of cooking-guardian angel. And Linguini can't believe he can communicate with a rat.
The kitchen's only female chef, Collette (Janeane Garofalo) bands together with Linguini (against evil head chef, Skinner), & they hope to finally impress the staunch food critic, Anton Ego, once and for all. All this time, Remy eats, sleeps, breathes, & cooks with and for Linguini. But after Linguini & Remy have a falling out, will a 'genuine' alliance ever surface? Can Remy remain a secret forever? Or will he make a bold, independent move to show the world that, yes, 'anyone can cook', even a rat. Does Collette know about Linguini's genuine lack of cooking skills? Does Remy's father respect his son's talent? Will Anton Ego enjoy opening-night's premiere dish, Ratatouille? Will his critique save or destroy The Gusteau restaurant forever? You'll have to watch this charming tale to find out.
There is so much beauty to behold in 'Ratatouille'. From a technical standpoint, the film is practically perfect. The animation is vivid, & practically 3D. Rat and human hair looks as real as anything. Facial movements & characteristics are perfectly honed, etc. Also impressive are the epic-scale shots of Paris. They'll make you want to jump on the next plane to France. Most impressive of all is the way the 'food' is shot. Every fruit, vegetable, bread, meat, & seasoning looks real, and tantalizingly grab-able/eatable. Also fantastic are some sporadic moments of sheer comedy (i.e., Skinner trying to exploit Gusteau's deceased image to market frozen dinners. And, Remy's exasperated reactions to Linguini's failed attempts at cooking). There are plenty of smart, witty moments such as this.
What knocks the movie down a few notches? The pacing is a bit choppy. After rushing off to an exhilarating start, the middle-third gets very wordy & lacks comedy. I (and most children in the audience) grew a bit restless. Also, while the script is generally strong, I found the delivery of some 'cheeky' one-liners to be untimely & unnecessarily bombastic for given moment(s). Speaking of cheekiness, most of the characters are blandly likeable. I can't see 'Remy' or 'Linguini' enjoying the same notoriety that Woody, Sulley, Stitch, & Nemo have had and will have for years. And the morality motto of the film: Anyone can cook. Cute, but infinitely inferior to that of some other 'great' Disney/Pixar films of the recent past. These are all nit-picky things, it's just that there are several of them.
There is no stellar plot development, things just sort of 'happen'. But I definitely enjoyed most that 'Ratatouille' had to offer. It's fun to add a 'rat' to the animation cinema pantheon. The voice work by the actors is solid. The CGI sequences are controlled extremely well. And the use of a warm, glowy-type of color palette really enhanced the old-world feel of sumptuous, romantic Paris. If you and/or your kids love furry creatures, funny concepts, & food, food, food ... pay the admission price, you won't be disappointed. Bon Appetit.
The film starts humorously as Remy tries to tell his family that eating human left-overs just won't do. Why settle for garbage when you can add a little of this, add a little of that and presto ... create a fresh, delicious masterpiece. His family thinks he's nuts. They think his only use is sniffing out potential rat poisons for his rat colony. But after they get separated by a terrible accident, Remy is thrust into Paris' hectic nightlife. Managing to get to the restaurant of his late-idol, Gusteau, Remy witnesses Linguini fouling up a soup order & takes it upon himself to fix it. The customers love the soup, and Linguini accepts Remy as culinary consultant and confidante. Remy can't believe Gusteau appears for him as a sort of cooking-guardian angel. And Linguini can't believe he can communicate with a rat.
The kitchen's only female chef, Collette (Janeane Garofalo) bands together with Linguini (against evil head chef, Skinner), & they hope to finally impress the staunch food critic, Anton Ego, once and for all. All this time, Remy eats, sleeps, breathes, & cooks with and for Linguini. But after Linguini & Remy have a falling out, will a 'genuine' alliance ever surface? Can Remy remain a secret forever? Or will he make a bold, independent move to show the world that, yes, 'anyone can cook', even a rat. Does Collette know about Linguini's genuine lack of cooking skills? Does Remy's father respect his son's talent? Will Anton Ego enjoy opening-night's premiere dish, Ratatouille? Will his critique save or destroy The Gusteau restaurant forever? You'll have to watch this charming tale to find out.
There is so much beauty to behold in 'Ratatouille'. From a technical standpoint, the film is practically perfect. The animation is vivid, & practically 3D. Rat and human hair looks as real as anything. Facial movements & characteristics are perfectly honed, etc. Also impressive are the epic-scale shots of Paris. They'll make you want to jump on the next plane to France. Most impressive of all is the way the 'food' is shot. Every fruit, vegetable, bread, meat, & seasoning looks real, and tantalizingly grab-able/eatable. Also fantastic are some sporadic moments of sheer comedy (i.e., Skinner trying to exploit Gusteau's deceased image to market frozen dinners. And, Remy's exasperated reactions to Linguini's failed attempts at cooking). There are plenty of smart, witty moments such as this.
What knocks the movie down a few notches? The pacing is a bit choppy. After rushing off to an exhilarating start, the middle-third gets very wordy & lacks comedy. I (and most children in the audience) grew a bit restless. Also, while the script is generally strong, I found the delivery of some 'cheeky' one-liners to be untimely & unnecessarily bombastic for given moment(s). Speaking of cheekiness, most of the characters are blandly likeable. I can't see 'Remy' or 'Linguini' enjoying the same notoriety that Woody, Sulley, Stitch, & Nemo have had and will have for years. And the morality motto of the film: Anyone can cook. Cute, but infinitely inferior to that of some other 'great' Disney/Pixar films of the recent past. These are all nit-picky things, it's just that there are several of them.
There is no stellar plot development, things just sort of 'happen'. But I definitely enjoyed most that 'Ratatouille' had to offer. It's fun to add a 'rat' to the animation cinema pantheon. The voice work by the actors is solid. The CGI sequences are controlled extremely well. And the use of a warm, glowy-type of color palette really enhanced the old-world feel of sumptuous, romantic Paris. If you and/or your kids love furry creatures, funny concepts, & food, food, food ... pay the admission price, you won't be disappointed. Bon Appetit.