Superb Animation, Sleepy Story

Rating: 5/10 (27 July 2007)

I brought my four children to see Ratatouille tonight, excited by the high score and comments of praise posted here. I was quite surprised by what we saw.
Indeed, the animation set the bar, redefining the state of the art. The use of textures, reflection, and transparency, along with sound (as in the sewer journey) were approaching the point where it was indistinguishable from reality. For me, this made the movie a joy to my senses from beginning to end.
That said, all four children (ages 6-13) and I found the story very slow, to the point of tedium. It nearly put my two older children to sleep and the younger ones were restless awaiting the end.
So I award my points based on the ground-breaking animation and the wonderful use of place (nearly the same locations as Bourne Identity!), but this movie will not be added to the set of animation classics.