Pixar's done it again

Rating: 10/10 (6 July 2007)

You know Pixar has never disappointed me. I've loved everything they've made and I've always thought them to be the current gods of animation. Last year they brought us Cars which was great but did not really give me the same Pixar feel. By that I mean that out of all Pixar films Cars was my least favorite with The Incredibles being my top favorite. Pixar movies are always a treat and this year's slice of cake is Ratatouille (thats rat-a-too-ee). Ratatouille is the story of a rat who teams up with a garbage boy to become the greatest chef in Paris. But I don't want to dwell in the story so lets just say its got the Pixar seal of approval.
The voice acting was all done very well considering that Linguini's voice actor is actually an animator for Pixar. You have your standard John Ratzenberger and I especially liked Peter O'Toole's role as ultra food critic Anton Ego (who was actually designed to resemble a vulture) and Patton Oswalt's portrayal of the titular character Remy the rat. In this day and age of film making there are no longer many advances in sound effects other than stuff sounding closer, further, muffled or echoy so I'll just say they were well done as well. The music captured the mood and thankfully avoided the CGI animation cliché of resorting to pop culture references and music to get a cheap laugh from the crowd (I'm looking at you Shrek).
All that stuff is great but what really had me loving this movie was the same thing that had me loving every other Pixar film which is the looks. Simply put this movie is gorgeous... no its not gorgeous is beautiful... no its gorgeously beautiful. The lighting, the reflections, the water effects, the clothes effects the textures the character expressions and looks, every tiny little thing to make this world which just so happens to be our world come alive. Another noteworthy thing to point out is the way the film exemplifies Paris to bring out it's life. There were many a time during the film when the city was seen from a vantage point to show just how beautiful it is. Therefore beautiful Pixar animation added onto the most beautiful city in the world equals nothing short of true art.
So yeah I loved the movie, but was there anything wrong with the movie? Well I can only say the movie was TOO good considering that I viewed it one week after its release and the theater was filled with people during an afternoon showing and there were kids behind me who wouldn't stop talking until their dad moved them to the front of the theater thankfully allowing me to enjoy the rest of the film.
So there was nothing wrong with the movie itself and even the Pixar short "Lifted" had me glued to the screen. 10/10 Pixar's done it again