*bows* we're not worthy, we're not worthy! ok, thats done now. Last year's pixar effort, Cars, wasn't my cup of tea. I felt it, though technically fantastic, lacked any emotional level, any level of connection for the audience. I'm not taking my words back either, though given the qaulity of Ratatouille i may have to rewatch Cars incase i missed something!
Before i start the review on Ratatouille i have to mention the short that came on before it, Lifted. That's why Pixar are so good, not only do you get a feature length film, you get a short film to the qaulity of the feature. Lifted is no expection, a funny and fun short film that made me laugh all the way through and set the tone and mood for the enjoyment of the feature brilliantly.
Ratatouille is the story of Remy a young rat living in the french countryside. A wannabe chef, though being a rat, this is a difficult conquest. When he gets seperated from his family, he ends up in paris. Inspired by the ghost of his cooking idea, Gusteau. Remy finds himself at his idol's restaurant. He spots Linguini a young man who is working at the restaurant as a garbage boy. Remy finds himself inside the restaurant, unable to resist using some of the incredients, he adds spices to a soup that linguini had made. The soup turns out to be a success, and linguini who can't cook teams with Remy to cook great food, while trying to keep the rat secret and win the heart of fellow chef Colette.
Like any pixar movie this film is a visual feast. One scene in which Remy is swept up in a drain pipe , then into the sewers is fantastic. The water effects, with the faultless looking water roaring and thrashing against the screen is a delight to watch. Then this is quickly followed by a sequence in which we follow Remy through the air vents and in between the walls of houses in paris. seeing him dodge mouse traps, running frantically, and we see glimpses of people living their lives in the rooms below, is brilliant and a joy to watch. All the food looks good enough to eat, and other aspects such as bottles and glass look flawless too. Theres a scene in which Linguini is asked to get rid of remy, when he is discovered in the kitchen. Linguini takes him to a near by channel that runs through paris. During this scene the visual effects really shine. fog and mist cover the paris sky and with faint gleering lights in the background, this scene above ll in terms of visuals, may be pixar's finest work.
In my cars review i mentioned the character of Mater, who i described as, and i quote :
" the character-less stereotype of dumb side kick in form of Mater"
and in the name of fairness, this is evident here aswell, this time taken by Remy's brother Emile. There is a certain qaulity that will sell toys as he has a lot of the light-cruder jokes (burps and such) though not to the degree of mater, this character annoyed me ever so slightly. Also if we're on the subject of similarities with Cars, we arrive at Remy's dad, Django. Much like Doc Huson in Cars, Django offers advice to the main character, who much like Lightning Mcqueen, declines his advice. However i guess most pixar movies have this convention...wait, so should i take back my comments about cars? No, and why? because Ratatouille has one defining factor that seperates it, Collette.
The love story between Collette and Linguini is great, it feels real and has ups and downs even during its 1hr and a half run time. You really feel for linguini because you can tell he's trying and working hard at his job and really cares for Collette But what made me connect to it more than cars??...They're HUMANS! (nothing against automobile love, go for it!)
All in all, pixar is back on form. a heartfelt film, that along with lots of likeable characters, proves that, they can get back on the horse after a slip up. All hail pixar for they're contributions to not only animation, but film.
