Shockingly Ordinary

Rating: 5/10 (5 August 2009)

Just watched this last night. I was shocked at how ... ordinary ... it was. Every other Pixar film I've seen (haven't yet caught Cars) has been special in some way. Toy Story was different. Monsters, Inc. incredibly original. The Incredibles was aimed at a slightly older crowd, but somehow made a surprisingly adult film for 8 or 10 year olds. WallE was brilliant.
This was not brilliant. The mouse able to read and communicate with humans seemed straight out the cliché book for animated movies. In an attempt to maintain some realism they do not allow the mouse to talk to humans, but forced to work around this the mouse can use the main character like a marionette, a far less plausible and more ridiculous invention. The morality of Remy's desire to "make something" instead of "taking" even falls short, as down to the end of the movie the rats continue to be on the taking end, with only Remy rising slightly above that. The main human character is dull-witted and undeveloped, and the movie fails to connect with the viewer on any emotional level -- exactly what makes the other Pixar films so wonderful.
Not to completely trash the film, it is amusing and worth a few laughs. Compared to many kids movies it is passable. Kids will be entertained and will laugh, but ultimately I felt the film was standard fare, far far FAR short of any other Pixar film I've seen.