Ratatouille

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Summary:
Remy is a small rat in the big city of Paris. He adores food, and the poetry that comes from perfectly balanced flavors. He stumbles into one of the most well renowned restaurants in France as it begins to spiral downward into "normalcy". He soon finds that he can control a young janitor, Linguini, and together they begin mixing some of the nicest meals that France has ever seen.

Review:
Pixar still hasn't hit a lull yet in their animated features. Ratatouille isn't one of their best, but even their worst is better than most. This is one that will most surely be loved by kids, and it's still good enough to pass as entertainment for the adults as well.
There are a slew of major issues I have with this movie on several different levels. The first is how a rat can control a human being by pulling hair on his head. I know this is a complete animated fantasy with talking rats for crying out loud. These rats even go into the subject about how stealing things is bad. However, my suspension of disbelief was pushed pretty high the moment Remy took a hold of the reins, so to speak. I did my best to go along with it, though, and it's good to say that in the end I didn't get completely turned off by this outrageous concept.
There were two more big stretches to my imagination when it came to the villian(s) of the story, and the relationship that is supposed to have been formed between Luigi and the female chef. The restaurant's owner dies and so the primary chef wants to turn it into a sell-out chain, complete with TV dinners. So he's further chagrined to find the new master chef is actually being controlled by a rat. He needs that rat to make him better meals, while also hiding key factors that could lead to the downfall of his food chain plans. This mean chef's evil plans are more threatening than the OTHER major obstacle: the food critic. Mr. Ego is the toughest food critic in all the land, and he loves to pan (haha! "Pan" the food!) the places he goes to. If he says a restaurant isn't awesome, then the restaurant may just fail to be a success. How mysterious that one critic can be that influential in the business. Not even Roger Ebert can tell me when a movie is good or not!

Ego is still fun to watch because Peter O'Toole's voice is like liquid. It flows across my eardrums, and his final assessment of Remy's dish is very nicely executed. I loved the flashback that he has after his first bite, and that alone made him worth my time. Even more than the Fantasia-like musical expression of Remy's desire to explain the joys of food, Ego's first bite in the end shows how much food can really change your perspective in life.
The relationship that "develops" between Linguini and Colette felt forced. She treats him like a jerk and shows him how to tend a kitchen properly, and then *poof!* she feels a connection to him, simply because he listened to her. Uhhh... what? Couldn't there have been some way in which their friendship becomes logical in a more believable context? If there was no romance between any of the characters at all, it would not have done much to change the outcome of the story's events. If anything, they should never have kissed, but in the end Linguini and Colette come to a mutual friendly understanding with one another.

Ratatouille follows your typical mold in the way events move forward. Rat likes to cook; rat controls chef; restaurant gets better; major obstacles prevent a smooth success; Linguini gets cocky; rat gets sad and leaves; people all find happiness and love in the end. But that's OK. It's not like a movie like this should have a dark, deceptive tone that leads to broken hearts and unfulfilled promises. This is a Disney/Pixar animated family film. So that's all good.

Looking past the "rat-puppeting-a-human" preposterousness, an unremarkable romance subplot, and the weaker-than-expected villains to present the movie's obstacles, Ratatouille was still pretty delightful. It's unoffensive for those young'ins, and just smart enough to keep us adults - who hopefully have a little child in their heart - happy and satisfied when all is said and done.

GRADE:  B

Reviewed: 1/21/08