God help thee, poor monkey. - Macbeth

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Movie Review: Ratatouille

What can I say? "Ratatouille" definitely deserved the Best Animated Picture in the Golden Globes. At my friend Jack's urging, a group of us got together to watch the adorable, hilarious movie today. Jack had been raving about it for months, telling us repeatedly that he had gone to see it twice in the theaters, it was that good. Naturally, I was a bit skeptical. I have lost all trust in Disney movies. Occasionally they come out with something good, but most of their recent movies have been, let's face it, pretty trashy. I like most of their collaborations with Pixar, but I am getting sick of the CG animation. It's good in small amounts, but almost every animated movie uses this style, unless it's an anime, and it's getting fairly old.

"Ratatouille", however, was a fantastic movie. The story followed the predictable Disney curve. An outcast finds a place that he fits in but must hide his identity in order to remain there. Everything is going well until someone discovers his secret. There is an argument with his one ally and everything falls apart. Just when things hit rock bottom, the main character finds a way to fix the situation and everything turns out okay in the end. As I said, it's classic Disney. It is not the plot that makes it a great movie, though.

The movie is full of jokes that, surprisingly, had me laughing out loud. I would have been surprised at the content of some of the jokes had I not become accustomed to Disney's habit of sneaking somewhat mature material into their children's movies. They always seem to pull it off, though, and rather than roll my eyes, I actually chuckled a bit. Also, the graphics were fantastic. While the characters were very cartoony, some of the settings could have been mistaken for photographs. Not only that, but the soundtrack was incredibly enjoyable as well. All in all, it was a great movie and I would highly recommend it, even to those who don't enjoy animated movies (coughMOMcough). I will be entirely unsurprised when it wins the Oscar for Best Animated Picture in February.

4 comments:

Suzy said...

Treachery! You've gone over to the Dark Side! And here I was basking in that parental glow after reading the Marx Bros. post. Oh, the heartbreak! Oh, the agony! I have to go rock in the corner now to get over it...

Cinderbelle said...

Did you notice I said that I thought you would like it? Peter O'Toole is in it, Mom. Anyway, even if you don't like the general animation, check out the scenery and listen to the soundtrack. They're both fantastic. And I went over to the dark side loooonggg ago. Don't you remember all the Disney movies that I love to rewatch? BTW, I've figured out that when you miss me, you buy me Disney stuff. Haha.

Suzy said...

I DO? Just that Cheshire Cat shirt, and only because it was used, cheap and a character I know you like! What other Disney stuff have I bought for you, hmmmm?

Cinderbelle said...

The Lady and the Tramp postcard that you sent to me when you were at Rock Island. Since those are the only times that I've been on my own, those are the only examples I've noticed. But I'm sure it will happen again. Having me off on my own makes you sentimental, so you buy me Disney stuff. I think it's subconscious. :-P