Feeling just slightly sub-par compared to the Pixar "greats"

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2007)

I'll be quite honest, I think this is definitely Mr Bird's weakest feature film so far, but that's not really saying much since "Ratatouille" is still pretty darn good (...plus I should also mention that "The Iron Giant" and "The Incredibles" are my favorite animated movies).
Bird's great and very distinctive sense of humor is still here, but not in abundance like I was used to from his previous work, which is probably what I missed the most. "Ratatouille" is luckily faaar superior to last year's "Cars", it's got great visuals and truly incredible voice-overs, but it mysteriously failed to impress me. My best guess is that Mr Bird has so far managed to set the bar so high it simply wasn't possible to go anywhere but down. But not severely, I respect the man for trying different stuff every time, for finding mesmerizing and captivating stories and bringing them to the big screen, and for always having great sense for everything, be it random details, voice actors, character animation.
I hope this movie positively surprises at the box office, so far the buzz has been kind of mixed, which is to be expected since last year's Pixar's weakest and dullest entry "Cars" failed to make an impression.
In the long run I predict "Ratatouille" will be fondly remembered, adored by some, but mostly feeling just slightly sub-par compared to the Pixar "greats". But let's not forget how high their average is;)
7/10