Pleasing but WAY overrated

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2007)

With all the raves around this picture it's next to impossible not to have high expectations. Lower them. Unless you are entirely bowled over by visuals alone (which are truly stunning), you will be left wondering what all the fuss is about. This may be a movie about fine cuisine, but the story seems to have been concocted in a Cuisinart--it's a mash-up. Instead of a clear character objective or a distinct plot through-line, the filmmakers have tossed in every possible character type, sub-plot, and chase sequence, with the cumulative effect of holding your attention (for the most part), but leaving you ultimately unfulfilled. It's not that these sequences aren't artfully done (the technique is flawless), but they amount to an obfuscation of the fact that there's not much here but numerous pastry-thin layers of small vignettes (even at that, the filmmakers seem to have missed a lot of opportunities here, especially comic ones). There are also serious problems with suspension of disbelief. This may sound odd considering that this is an animated world, but such worlds hinge on their ability to establish their own parameters of reality. For reasons I cannot quite fathom, Ratatouille goes out of its way to set very specific and highly-realistic parameters, and then proceeds break them. You find yourself literally rationalizing certain plot developments with a conscious determination such as, "well, it is, after all, a cartoon." Great films may indeed be like great meals, but flavor alone doesn't satisfy.