Ratatouille Review
I saw a screening of Ratatouille at Pixar on Saturday night. You need to see this movie. I'm serious. Honestly, I don't get much out of most movies. Not because they're not good, but they just don't do anything for me personally. They don't make me feel anything or surprise me. Ratatouille does both and constantly evokes an sense of awe.
The director of Ratatouille, Brad Bird, is best known for directing The Incredibles, which is one of my absolute favorites ever. He renewed my faith in what movies can do.
Now you might be thinking a movie about a Rat who cooks? Your skepticism is understandable — I thought the same thing at first. Cooking is the main focus of the story, but it's not what the movie is about. I'm not going to tell you what it's about, of course. You have to go see it.
What Ratatouille does is start from a very humble premise, and takes you on wild journey with stunningly beautiful visuals (only a small portion of which are in the trailer, by the way) and incredible voice acting. There's a cunning combination of photorealistic scenery and highly stylized characters, setting the stage for getting pulled into the world so far that you suspend the notion that you're watching a movie — or at least I did.
Above all else, though, Ratatouille consistently takes twists and turns that are unexpected. It doesn't take the easy way and stick to proven plot mechanics. It surprises you, and ends up being something much greater than you could expect.
Absolutely one of my top ten.
(thanks Josh!)
Ratatouille Review
Posted Jun 24, 2007 — 10 comments below
Posted Jun 24, 2007 — 10 comments below
aquaibm — Jun 24, 07 4440
David W — Jun 24, 07 4441
Very glad to hear it's a fine flick. What were your views on Cars? After the triumph that was The Incredibles, the last movie was a bit... ordinary, at least by Pixar's high standards.
Samo — Jun 25, 07 4442
natevw — Jun 25, 07 4443
For me, The Incredibles went from "a comic book parody??" to favorite movie status due in large part to the director. I'm expecting that Ratatouille, currently in "haven't 15 minutes of trailers ruined it?" status, will make a similar move.
The only trouble for me? Opening weekend coincides with a train trip through the Rockies, which I suspect are themselves underrated, so I'll pass on the handicam version!
Scott Stevenson — Jun 25, 07 4444
No need to worry about that.
Blain — Jun 25, 07 4445
I thought the loyal readers would rather go for shaky-cams of Cocoaheads...
Also: Anyone else accidentally put in that the company who makes the mac is "2007"?
Andras Puiz — Jun 26, 07 4446
I really hope Ratatouille will live up to your hyping it. Cars wasn't nearly as impressive as The Incredibles, and I'm glad to see Brad Bird back in the director's seat.
Darel Rex Finley — Jul 01, 07 4449
I'm especially pleased to see that although the main character is tinted a fairly obvious blue, this movie mostly lacks the heavy use of primary (kids) colors, which are glaringly prominent in most Pixar movies.
And — Jul 02, 07 4450
One interesting thing I noticed was that the opening sequence has similar characteristics to the opening of The Incredibles. Same director but I guess it was a deliberated decision.
natevw — Jul 05, 07 4495
@And: I had the same déjà vu moment at the beginning of the film. I didn't quite get why it was necessary, but it worked except for contributing another "preachy" moment to the film.