| RATATOUILLE
, if I may be so bold as to continue straight
from the subject line, was excellent.
It's possible -- I'm still figuring it up --
that I liked 'Ratatouille' even more than 'The Incredibles.' And I loved
'The Incredibles' -- I just didn't like the character of 'Syndrome' at all.
Never make your ultimate villain look like the kid who kicked the back of
your seat on the school bus, that should be the lesson to all aspiring designers.
But -- 'Ratatouille' -- and no, it does not
get easier to spell the more you type it -- it's a very different kind of
film, possibly even more mature-themed than 'The Incredibles.' I realize
that's a relative term in the realm of family films, but this one definitely
feels more real-world.
"Family films." Yeesh. That's been
code for "Wretched, insipid kids' movies" for so long that merely designating
a movie as such these days is enough to pre-emptively knock a star off the
review. They don't HAVE to be stupid -- it's our fault for letting so many
bad ones through.
To get back on-subject, though, I've heard
many a person saying they're not particularly interested in seeing this one.
I'm here to tell you that you'll be doing yourself a grave disservice if
you do not. I admit the advertising has been terribly lackluster, and I only
saw it, myself, on virtue of Brad Bird's direction; the trailers would have
you believe it's a wise-cracking talking animal movie, which is about as
enthralling a concept, these days, as, well, a movie about wise-cracking
talking animals.
It rises well above, however. For a start,
it's only about 25% a talking animal movie. The rest is distinctly
human-world-centric, with Remy, the rat, acting in a buddy role -- and not
talking. Rats talk only to other rats; to people, they squeak. Easy enough
to get into.
Despite what you may have seen, it's not a
paen to gourmet food or even the restaurant industry -- it's more a tale
of an artist's passion for his art, and if that sounds pretentious, well,
at least it's still a rat we're talking about. It's hard to quantify what
made it so good -- the animation's much more realistic, this time, compared
to the zips and pops of Pixar's other features. The visuals -- seriously,
this time, they're freaking gorgeous. It's a film that'll make you
want to see Paris, and the imagery will stay with you long after you're standing
in the middle of Europe's most famous open sewer, realizing you've been
hoodwinked. When video games look like that, we'll be seeing some SERIOUS
Vitamin D deficiency.
So, seriously, it's got my highest recommendation,
you've got no excuse for not seeing it, and if you don't, I'll hate you.
Indeed, just as I have nothing but the deepest contempt for THIS
generally-favorable
review from
"Entertainment Weekly" (He gave it a 'B').
Despite spectacularly missing the message of
the film, he also throws in this winner of a line -- "The lack of celebrity
voices is a major drawback, since Remy ends up with very little personality.
Contrast him with, say, the bad-boy Owen Wilson speedster in Cars, and you're
seeing the difference between a hero with spice and a bland one who happens
to know where the spice rack is."
I hope you'll all join me in noting that, in
our good and informed opinion, this man is a pathetic moron, suitable only
for chiseling grime out of convention-center toilets or working in the deepest
mines. A harsh price for a dumb statement, but my hand has been forced. Yes,
that's exactly what I was thinking as I was entranced by this wonderful movie
-- This thing needs Owen Wilson! Better yet, Robin Williams! No, Mike
Meyers! If he can do a French accent as well as he can do a Scottish one,
we'll only be painfully aware that he's Canadian 35% of the time!
I recognized two voices in this -- Brad Garrett,
and Peter O'Toole. Neither of 'em are on Hollywood's A-list, but both do
a bang-up job, and at no point did I stop and think, "You know, this virtual
puppet is being voiced by TV's Brad Garrett." In other words -- I was WATCHING
the MOVIE. I didn't recognize any of the other actors in the credits. They
all did a fine job.
My feeling is -- and maybe I'm wrong -- celebrity
voices are tossed into lousy CG kids' movies for benefit of the parents.
Nine-year-olds might well recognize a celebrity's voice when it's coming
from a penguin's mouth, but seriously -- kids aren't a hard sell on these
movies, which is why we let so many of them suck. I LIKED that I didn't recognize
most of the actors -- for once, a major film company decided to show me something
new. They did a great job.
Seriously, a great job. If you disagree with
me, there's room in the mines.
Go see "Ratatouille."
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