Ratatouille Movie Review
by efrain gomez
Every so often, I get to see a movie that reminds of me of why I love going to the movies. “Ratatouille” is a sumptuously animated story of a rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt of TV’s “King of Queens”) who longs for rich and flavorful food more tasty than the garbage he and his rat colony-family are used to eating.
Remy’s love for great food and cooking is inspired by Gusteau, a famous French chef whose life motto was “Anyone can cook”. Remy’s dream comes true when he stumbles upon the master chef’s restaurant, “Gusteau’s”, where he meets Linguini, a hapless clutz who gets a job mopping floors in Gusteau’s kitchen.
After Remy sees Linguini accidentally ruining a soup, Remy fixes it by adding his own ingredients. Of course, Linguini is credited for it and is asked to recreate the magnificent soup. Together, Remy and Linguini discover they can be a great chef – with Remy as the brains and Linguini the hands.
Brad Bird, writer/director of “Ratatouille” and other Pixar hits like “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles”, is a wonderful storyteller, creating stories with beautifully animated characters and settings, reminding us of why Pixar’s movies aren’t just cartoons.
“Ratatouille” may be G-rated, but there is so much more to this film than simply being a kids movie. There are settings, jokes, references, and plot elements that might need explaining for younger children, including DNA tests, kitchen sexism, and why frozen food sell-outs are the enemy.
More mature than “Finding Nemo”, more focused than “Happy Feet”, not as gimmicky as the “Shrek” movies, and definitely showcasing some of the most brilliant animation from Pixar, “Ratatouille” thrills you with it’s clever blend of humor and heart.
Since it’s a computer-animated film, of course, nothing is real. However, I think I actually started to care for the characters in the movie. So much thought seems to go into them and how they interact with each other, even the ones without much dialogue or backstory.
Perhaps one of the reasons the characters are so cool is because there’s no big hype and hoopla about who does the voices. You don’t have another moronic cartoon with Brangelina voicing a seducing spider or Justin Timberlake playing a gay turtle. Pixar creates a wonderful story, fills it with great characters, and then finds the voices to match; not the other way around.
I usually don’t recommend multiple viewings of a movie, but after seeing “Ratatouille”, you’ll definitely want to come back for seconds.
_____
3.5 stars out of 4
Grade: A
Oh, and there’s a cool little short animation before the film, a brief Pixar promo, and a quick trailer for Pixar’s next project, so make sure to arrive early. And no, I don’t work for Pixar.
[...] “Ratatouille” this weekend, along with Evan Almighty, another great [...]