Talks the talk but...

Rating: 3/10 (24 October 2007)

Ratatouille is a good film in that it is very well executed in terms of animation (Pixar remain peerless) and in terms of sound design...basically the film looks and sounds sumptuous. But. This is nowhere near as entertaining as I wanted it to be and nowhere near as good as The Incredibles. Pixar have choked twice now with this and with Cars. I wanted to love this...what's not to love? The trailer highlighted a story with heart, with a lovable character in the form of Remy who wants to break away from the rat race and become more than he is. He believes that barriers can be broken down and humans and rats can work and exist together. It's a metaphor of course and not an unworthy one but the story execution lets this film down alarmingly. My main criticisms are: The characters are unlovable; Skinner the head Chef is loud, brash and down right cruel, Linguini the put upon plongeur who Remy helps learn how to cook is stupid and has an incredibly grating voice and Remy's family are add-ons who fill no real purpose except to provide the ying to Remy's raging yang. Also, the idea that pulling Linguini's hair makes his arms and hands move involuntarily pushes the suspension of disbelief too far in a film where we are already happy to accept that a Rat is a culinary genius. You can ask too much of an audience. The tone is all over the place and any message the film is trying to get across is totally lost in the dense plotting and endless dialogue between some rather unpleasant or boring characters. The kids in the cinema I was in became bored very quickly indeed. Only Peter O'Toole's performance and the animation/character of Remy himself are the saving graces here. Perhaps Remy should have tried escaping from this movie instead of the sewer. My advice to Brad Bird would probably be to make The Incredibles 2 as soon as possible.