Ratatouille was a disaster for every age group with few laughs.

Rating: 2/10 (5 December 2007)

Simply the most boring children's animated movie, Ratatouille focuses on the contrasting visual perspectives of a rat and a teenage boy and attempts to draw most of it's humour from here. The comedy did not exist within the story itself... the joke of a rat assisting a teenage boy's cooking skills wears off after a few minutes. You can dissect the movie and delve into discussion around it's wonderful cinematography and attempts at being innovative with POV camera angles etc. but I think this is another film that reflects changing attitudes towards cinema that are quite dangerous for the industry. Production companies are putting far too much emphasis on captivating audiences with technical 'cleverness' rather than telling an interesting story. The reason for Toy Story's success is obvious. Not only was the animation absolutely enthralling, the story constantly held us in suspense with a variey of fascinating characters. Ratatouille not only holds on to themes and catch phrases for far too long, with the annoying 'anyone can cook' statement, it creates an extremely unrealistic relationship between animal and man through a very week scene of a boy discovering the capabilities of a rat. Anyone with even the most powerful imagination will be unable to accept their interaction, and a voice in their mind will scream out 'far fetched' throughout most of the film.
Ratatouille was a disaster for every age group with few laughs.