Same Theme, Same Story

Rating: 6/10 (7 September 2007)

Maintaining the status quo can be damaging to films, especially thanks to the highly popular animations that have graced the silver screen (SHREK, THE INCREDIBLES, HOODWINKED!) Audiences get bored if all you show us is the same ol' same ol'. And this is where RATATOUILLE runs into trouble.
Written and directed by Brad Bird (who also did The Incredibles and THE IRON GIANT), Mr. Bird has fallen into a small rut; one that I hope he doesn't remain in. Yes, the animation was great. Yes, the voices were wonderful. Yes, the story was cute and funny. But there was nothing new. We've seen these themes over and over and over again, and it's becoming a bit tiresome.
Instead of a superhero family or a misunderstood ogre, this time we've got an English speaking French rat (don't ask) who's taste for expensive foods  and not garbage  gets him into trouble. Living the life of the dull and mundane with the rest of his extended family, Remy (Patton Oswalt, RENO 911!: Miami) soon has buckshot whizzing by all of his furry brethren. Removed from his familial upbringing, Remy turns quickly toward his love for rich foods. His astutely attuned nose leads him to Paris (as does a ghostly visitation from a world famous chef known as Gusteau voiced by Brad Garrett, MUSIC AND LYRICS), where he finds a now corrupted and dying restaurant named after its formerly famous cook (the aforementioned Gusteau). He also runs into the newly hired garbage boy named (not funnily) Linguini (Lou Romano, CARS). After being captured in the kitchen, Remy is caged and taken to the river by Linguini where he's told to dispose of the rodent in the nearby river. But Remy and Linguini soon realize they can understand one another, and Linguini can't bring himself to the kill the little fella. What does happen, though, is that a bizarre relationship builds and Linguini quickly becomes the soup chef thanks to Remy's ability to identify delectable food. Hidden under Linguini's hat (literally), rat and human become the master-blaster (ROAD WARRIOR reference) of Gusteau's restaurant.
Swirling around this story is also a love interest between another chef named Collette (Janeane Garofalo) and Linguini, the battle between thievery and survival that Remy must address when his extended rat family pops in, and, of course, the battle that Linguini must do with a very Tim Burtonesque looking food critic named Anton Ego (the estimable Peter O'Toole, CASANOVA).
Not surprisingly, everything works out in the end thanks to human ingenuity and rodent accompaniment.
But, again, this isn't something we haven't seen before. It's old terrain covered many times, which is why I'm only giving it 6 stars. Had it not been for the awesome voice of Mr. O'Toole as the food critic, it may not have gotten even that.
Kids will enjoy the action. Parents will like the familiar territory. And let's hope that the two can talk about the necessity for rats to NOT be in restaurants.