A rat you are
going to love? It’s
madness I tell you! Complete,
crazy, ingenious madness!
Patton Oswalt
provides the voice of Remy – a French rat who is not like all
of the other
rats. While his
brother Emile (Peter
Sohn), father Django (Brian Dennehy) and the rest of the rats who live
around
the little French chateau are happy to eat garbage, Remy has developed
a more
discerning palate. Late
at night, Remy
starts to watch TV programs about the amazing Chef Gusteau (voice by
Brad
Garrett) and learns the fine points of cooking and the chef’s
motto that anyone
can cook. Suddenly,
our hero is off to
Paris, finds himself at Chef Gusteau’s restaurant, and teams
up with a young
chef, Linguini (Lou Romano), who can’t cook, but knows how to
follow directions
from our budding food artist.
Will Remy and
Linguini become France’s
new cooking sensation? Will
people find
out a rat is in the kitchen?
Ratatouille
takes one of the most vile, hated, disease-ridden vermin in the history
of the
world, then makes them likable, maybe even cuddly and lovable, which is
why Ratatouille is one of the best animated movies I have ever seen. Writer/director Brad Bird delivers a
picture that encompasses so much, you have to wonder how he packs it
all into
one film. We have
slapstick funny stuff
for the kids. We
have a strained
father-son relationship to provide some drama.
We have a masterful lampooning of the foodie set and
the treatment of
chefs as superstars with book deals and television shows that will make
parents
and adults laugh. Bird
also vividly
brings each character to life with great stories about their past and
traits
that make each unique and unforgettable.
It’s a tour de force that easily lives up
to the legend of Pixar and its
films like Toy Story, The Incredibles and more.
The vocal
performances ultimately make Ratatouille special.
So many times today, big name actors are
brought in to attract moviegoers, but phone in their performances by
failing to
create characters. In Ratatouille, each
voice actor is performing at the highest levels, and so well that you
can’t
even recognize the famous players.
Oswalt is perfect as Remy with every orgasmic
reaction to delicious
smelling food, the heartfelt dedication he has to cooking, the sadness
he feels
when it looks like his dream may not come true, and more. Sohn makes Emile into a
lovable oaf, while
Janeane Garofalo is unrecognizable, but welcome, as the tough female
chef,
Colette.
Finally, since
it is Pixar, the audience is treated to even better animation than ever. Instead of resting on
their laurels, the team
delivers amazing CGI so good you can see the whiskers on the rats, see
the
fluff in their fur, individual hairs on their bodies, and witness
facial
reactions that make you think you are looking at a human being
expressing
shock, sadness, exasperation and happiness.
I know I say this with every Pixar movie, but it
just feels like these guys
continue to raise the bar and set the standard with each and every
movie to the
point you are amazed it keeps getting better.
Ratatouille is
fantastic. If you
miss this one, you
have missed out on one of the best nights of your life.
4 Waffles
(Out of 4)
Ratatouille is
rated G
Copyright
2007 - WaffleMovies.com
