Movie Review: "Ratatouille"
Jun. 30th, 2007 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday we saw "Ratatouille." I recommend it.
I'm realizing that one problem with seeing trailers before a movie is that I subconsciously judge how good the movie is as if it were a sequel to the trailer. That doesn't quite seem fair, does it? (Especially since the person who makes the movie doesn't even get to make the trailer(s).)
Sometimes the trailer is just better than the movie. Okay, once anyway ("Shawn of the Dead").
The trailer for "Ratatouille" is fun and my favorite parts from it are also in the movie. What a surprise! But two of my favorite parts of the movie are not in the trailer. One is a character that is mostly a figment of the protagonist's imagination. I love that guy. Another makes me think I need to go see every Peter O'Toole movie ever made. (Except "Lawrence of Arabia." It's beautiful and it makes me feel like I have a clue on what it's like to ride a camel, but bleh.)
So, anyway, it's got an exciting plot. It has funny bits. It has tearjerker moments. Nice animation (awesome, really, except for the comb-overs), and it's also pretty. You might think rats? Sewers? Pretty? Yep, pretty much. The morals are basically good and the follow-through is basically good, although if one of the morals is to take chances and try things that might not work, they should show something not working. I guess they do. Sort of.
And it's good at making rats look cute enough that even if you don't already realize that rats are cute, you can easily watch them in this movie. Yet there are also some scenes where you can easily see how someone who doesn't know these particular rats the way you do might be appalled. That can't be easy.
This is one of my crappy reviews, huh? Sorry. At least I'm not giving away plot points.
I don't like that it makes me feel bad about how my species treats rats, almost as much as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (the book) did.
On the other hand, it can make you feel good about yourself even if you think you suck in every way because it teaches you that at least you can pass for human in a way that a rat just can't. And that really comes in handy more often than you might think.
If you like good food, haute cuisine, cooking, rats, underdogs, whitewater rafting, controlling complicated robots, fighting sexism, motorcycles, or a little perspective with your dinner, there is something for you in this movie.
I'm realizing that one problem with seeing trailers before a movie is that I subconsciously judge how good the movie is as if it were a sequel to the trailer. That doesn't quite seem fair, does it? (Especially since the person who makes the movie doesn't even get to make the trailer(s).)
Sometimes the trailer is just better than the movie. Okay, once anyway ("Shawn of the Dead").
The trailer for "Ratatouille" is fun and my favorite parts from it are also in the movie. What a surprise! But two of my favorite parts of the movie are not in the trailer. One is a character that is mostly a figment of the protagonist's imagination. I love that guy. Another makes me think I need to go see every Peter O'Toole movie ever made. (Except "Lawrence of Arabia." It's beautiful and it makes me feel like I have a clue on what it's like to ride a camel, but bleh.)
So, anyway, it's got an exciting plot. It has funny bits. It has tearjerker moments. Nice animation (awesome, really, except for the comb-overs), and it's also pretty. You might think rats? Sewers? Pretty? Yep, pretty much. The morals are basically good and the follow-through is basically good, although if one of the morals is to take chances and try things that might not work, they should show something not working. I guess they do. Sort of.
And it's good at making rats look cute enough that even if you don't already realize that rats are cute, you can easily watch them in this movie. Yet there are also some scenes where you can easily see how someone who doesn't know these particular rats the way you do might be appalled. That can't be easy.
This is one of my crappy reviews, huh? Sorry. At least I'm not giving away plot points.
I don't like that it makes me feel bad about how my species treats rats, almost as much as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (the book) did.
On the other hand, it can make you feel good about yourself even if you think you suck in every way because it teaches you that at least you can pass for human in a way that a rat just can't. And that really comes in handy more often than you might think.
If you like good food, haute cuisine, cooking, rats, underdogs, whitewater rafting, controlling complicated robots, fighting sexism, motorcycles, or a little perspective with your dinner, there is something for you in this movie.