A different look: A dreadfully average, unimpressive movie (**SPOILERS**)

Rating: 1/10 (30 June 2007)

***SPOILERS - DO NOT READ BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE***
After thoroughly enjoying The Incredibles, I expected another great movie from Brad Bird. The reviews were outstanding, the movie looked adorable, and there was no way, I thought, I could be disappointed with this movie.
How wrong I was: I was beyond disappointed. This movie has little of what Pixar movies great, and seemed more like your average, run-of-the-mill CGI flick. What bothered me the most was character development: There was absolutely none for most characters, and it was very limited for those who did have some. The villain, the man of an ambiguous but definitely foreign race, has absolutely no development at all. You're originally lead to believe the other cooks with be developed with their own personalities, but they have absolutely none. Previous Pixar movies were greatly enjoyable because they were full of distinct, unique, hilarious characters, each with a definite personality. It would be hard to say anyone in this movie had a consistent or recognizable personality at all.
Furthermore, some plot points made little to no sense. When Remy becomes infuriated at Linguini taking credit, for example, he takes thousands of his rat friends and totally trashes the restaurant. I'm sorry, but what the *%#$? Did Remy actually expect Linguini to give him credit? Remy wasn't even showboating that much, he was flailing his arms trying to come up with an excuse that didn't involve "A rat is the cook."
Ego furthermore is a character that seems very unrealistic. The plot in the movie didn't "develop," it just happened. It didn't try to pass itself off as believable, it just says "okay, this is what happens, even if it makes no sense considering what we've told you so far." The movie's heart is fake and shallow. It really doesn't make any real points. Full House made deeper points on Family, even at its worst.
I don't see how people can see this movie as fantastic. It's not bad, but it is completely and utterly forgettable. I was disappointed leaving Cars, but now I see that Cars wasn't that bad. It still dripped of hilarious, witty Pixar charm. This movie's writing seemed very unprofessional, sloppy, and lazy. The movie was rarely funny, never hilarious.