Another Triumph for Brad Bird

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2019)

Walking into a Pixar film I have always expected great animation going all the way back to their award winning short films but for some reason I am often surprised by the strength of the story.
This story in particular, a rat who wants to become a gourmet chef seemed like it might be a tough sell, but the characters are interesting as is the story and with the current trend towards elevating the art of the chef it is extremely timely.
As good as all of Pixar's films are though I found those directed by Brad Bird (though he took this film over partway through production) to be among the best. Both Monster's Inc and Iron Giant (not a Pixar film or computer animated) are among my favorite animated films.
There are a number of wonderful frantic scenes that capture ones attention, but the highlight scene for me would be a flashback scene later in the film with a technical flare.
While this is a family movie like all Pixar's films I wondered whether the deliberate pacing and more involved storytelling of the middle part of the film might not maintain the attention of younger children.