| Ratatouille Movie |
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| Written by James Morgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Relevant Information: Cast: Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Ramano, Peter O'Toole. Director: Brad Bird Brief summary of the item: A rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat in a decidedly rodent-phobic profession. When fate places Remy in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely - and certainly unwanted - visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Remy's passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting rat race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down. General Comments: Remy is a rat from the French countryside with a refined palate and taste for fine food and a talent for making new creations by combining different flavours. Remy hides a respect for the human race he walks on two legs when no one is looking and dreams of being able to cook. He watches and believes the famous chef Gusteau when he says that anyone can cook. After becoming separated from his family he finds himself in Paris and outside the great, late chef Gusteau's restaurant. But moral in Gusteau's failing restaurant is low as new head chef Skinner is only interested in cashing in on Gusteau's name through deals with frozen food companies. The new garbage boy Linguini dreams of moving up the kitchen chain but there's just one problem... he can't cook. When Linguini catches Remy fixing his disastrous soup a partnership is born. Together, with Lugini's human shape and Remy talent in the kitchen, and in secret they begin to turn around the fortunes of the restaurant. But with famous food critic Anton Ego retuning to review the revitalised restaurant, his last review resulting in Gusteau's losing one of its stars, will their partnership be enough to win him over? Ratatouille was possibly one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of 2007 as fans and critics alike were all interested in how animation giants Pixar were going to further stretch the boundaries of their craft. And, in terms of animation, they do not disappoint. Visually the movie is just stunning bringing Paris and the hustle and bustle of busy kitchen to life as once again Pixar prove that they are the animation heavyweights in a year that has provided us with some very below par movies in this genre. Accompanied by some great vocal performances, in particular Peter O'Toole as food critic Anton Ego, aesthetically the film is first rate and you will struggle to find a better crafted movie this year. Despite carrying an inspirational message of be all you can be and don't be afraid to follow your dreams Ratatouille is just lacking something that would have made it great. While it was not as large a disappointment as last years Cars it was, and it pains me to say, a major let down. After a promising opening the film takes on the saga of Remy's family vs his unusual desire to cook and as he enters Gusteau's kitchen the plot became laboured and in places dull. Don't be expecting a roll in the aisle with laughter romp either as it lacks any prolonged humour but does raise a chuckle here and there, in fact the laughs are mostly likely to come in the before feature short. In all Rataouille is sadly a disappointment despite being an aesthetic feast the script just lacks that knockout punch that we are so used to with other Pixar movies like Finding Nemo. While others sing its praises, and it will no doubt bag an Oscar nomination, as I left the cinema I found myself wanting to like it more than I actually did. 
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Tuesday, 20 November 2007 Written by James Morgan
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Tuesday, 20 November 2007 Written by Jason Wilcox
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General Comments: There's a scene in Ratatouille in which a food critic is so overwhelmed by the food he eats that it alters his perception. It burrows deep in to his mind, finding a moment so personal and pure that the food itself becomes the embodiment of all life's joys. Anyone watching Ratatouille, director Brad Bird's follow-up to his first Pixar animated film The Incredibles, will undoubtedly react the same way the food critic did. I loved Ratatouille. I loved its sharp and superlative animation. I loved its unexpected telling of a rather formulaic story. I loved the moments of slapstick humor and the darker moments of dread. In fact, it's hard to find a part of this movie I didn't love. When we are first introduced to Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a country rat with dreams of making great Parisian dishes and not of stealing scraps, the film doesn't seem to have a leg to stand on. Yet, the paced progression of his adventure romances us in a ways rarely seen in most studio animations (none since Bird's The Incredibles). The moment Remy fixes a soup ruined by the garbage boy Linguini (Lou Romano), we are hooked into Ratatouille. The Remy/Linguini cooking team (Remy with the nose for cooking controls Linguini's hands) ends up impressing food critics, the public, and a certain female cook with an eye for Linguini. Of course, Head Chef Skinner (Ian Holm), who is set to inherit the famous restaurant in which Linguini works until he discovers Linguini is the rightful heir, doesn't like the new guy getting attention. Likewise, the food critic Ego (Peter O'Toole), who brought the once five-star restaurant down a star, doesn't want to see any revitalization. Just when Remy and Linguini are in a position to take on both Skinner and Ego, Remy's lowbrow rat family, from which he was luckily separated, finds him and wants to bring him back to the colony. Sometimes the hardest part of writing a review is describing the story because it often necessitates talking about plot points out of context. Until you see the moments I've described, you don't really get the full picture of the amazing success that is Ratatouille. It's an unlikely success to be sure, this easily unbelievable story about a rat using a man as a puppet, but Ratatouille works because it does exactly what great movies are supposed to do: it makes you want to believe. Yes, there is magic in Ratatouille, but its magic cannot be credited to the Pixar brand. Even more so than The Incredibles, the humor and heart in this film singularly reflect what writer/director Bird has to offer audiences as a true auteur of animated film. While the appeal of Pixar's sensibility has waned thanks to its last two non-Bird releases (Finding Nemo and Cars), Bird has been a refreshing individual voice who can reinvigorate and reinvent what Pixar has to offer. Ratatouille is the best example of this yet. And thanks to Bird, animation's master storyteller, Ratatouille is also the best film so far this year, animated or otherwise.
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Tuesday, 20 November 2007 Written by Emily
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General Comments: At this point, it's pretty much a given that families and young children will line up to see anything made by Pixar, which seems incapable of producing a dud. But RATATOUILLE, like director Brad Bird's family adventure The Incredibles, is the rare animated film that could just as easily captivate an audience full of childless adults. Granted, the world of haute French cuisine is an unlikely setting for a kid-friendly flick, but Bird makes it irresistible. Remy (voiced by comedian Patton Oswalt) is a unique rat who can't stomach eating garbage. He wants the good stuff -- like truffle oil and fine artisan cheeses -- which brands him the snobby black sheep of his crew. After Remy's family is driven from their habitat by a gun-toting grandma, he emerges onto the streets of Paris, where he's visited by the ghost of renowned, recently deceased uber-chef Gusteau (Brad Garrett), who was famous for the populist saying "Anyone can cook." Remy is drawn to Gusteau's now three-star restaurant (it lost a star after Gusteau died), where he feels right at home ... before getting sighted and nearly killed by flying knives. Remy, quick with the spices, saves young kitchen helper Linguini (Lou Romano) from ruining the soup of the day, and the two form an odd-couple bond. From then on, Remy becomes part Mister Miyagi, part puppeteer as he helps Linguini cook up delicious specials that put Gusteau's back on the culinary map. But as Linguini soaks in his new fame as the chef du jour, Remy grows increasingly bitter that someone else is taking credit for his recipes. The film's nemeses are Gusteau's new head chef -- an angry little dictator (Ian Holm) who wants to make millions selling a line of pre-packaged frozen foods -- and Anton Ego (Peter O'Toole), a food critic who loves writing negative reviews. Both are hilarious takes on two familiar French stereotypes: the Napoleonic boss and the condescending elitist. The story doesn't have the emotional depth of The Incredibles or Finding Nemo, but the animation is every bit as dazzling. Every scene of the chefs shredding, peeling, dicing, and stirring is vibrant and layered. And the moment Ego tastes the titular dish is so delicious a visual reference that it deserves to be a surprise. Kids may ultimately favor the child-centric appeal of Toy Story or the vroom-vroom adventure of Cars, but grown ups will find a reason to ask for seconds of Ratatouille.
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