Bird's Rat -- Memorable Movie Night Part 1: The Animated Movie

Rating: 9/10 (10 July 2007)

One night, three great movies. Let's start with the appetizer: Ratatouille.
This family fun, yet mainly mature, sweet and sarcastic tale is Brad Bird's reserved creation. Even if in Paris, the setting is dingy and involves rats in a kitchen. Yet, Bird is the one to receive an original screenplay Oscar nomination for "Incredibles, The (2004)", an animated movie about superheroes. Even so, it comes as a pleasant surprise to see Bird's writing and directing easily transcend this potentially contrived plot and make a funny and heartfelt movie in almost every aspect. The message it carries is positive and poetic and the film is forgiven its occasional slapstick comedy moments or predictability to (hopefully) make it slightly more appealing to the younger audience and thus more marketable.
The initial introduction and characterization had me entertained, but slightly worried, but once the film got rolling, I was pretty much enthralled throughout: out-loud laughing, smiling or fighting a tear. A feel good movie and a good story. Don't expect Shrek's flatulence or average talking-animal humour. Expect more of the witty humour from The Incredibles, minus the action, plus a bit more depth in dialogue and human soul-searching. Disney's magic? Well, this film has the intangible that makes it all work together.