A Celtic Departure for Pixar

Rating: 8/10 (17 November 2012)

I kind of missed all the marketing hullabaloo when this was in the cinema and so watched this hype free, with my kids, curled up on the sofa eating popcorn.
As ever the animation is sumptuous and Pixar really are peerless when it comes to this kind of stuff but I don't think it has escaped their - or our - notice that all the other animation studios have caught up in that department; is it any better that How to Train Your Dragon? Or Tangled? I do wonder...the hair is great, the Highland setting is detailed in a way that that shows utter dedication to one's craft. I still think Pixar are at the top of the league, though.
The thing, however, that defines a Pixar movie for me is that the animation is almost secondary to the dialogue, characters and plot. I liked it. I thought the characters were clearly defined and funny, beautifully designed with superb voice acting. My kids sometimes got a touch lost with the plot (I found myself scratching my head a couple of times to be honest) but overall they adored the story and got swept up in the final third of the film.
This is not one of Pixar's best movies - it's a bit of a Ratatouille (which I love BTW) in that it seems to struggle to play to both audiences, to adults and children alike. My kids loved it and I really liked it as well. Would I see it again? Yeah, I probably would, but there is a certain something missing from this movie and I think that it is a bit of emotion. I didn't fall in love with any of the characters like Woody...or Wall-E...or grouchy Mr Fredricksen.
There is a tiny spark of Pixar magic missing from this film...but it's still a great film