Review of Ratatouille (2007) by Mrmoviebuff — 17 Mar 2015

If I had to choose my favorite Pixar filmmaker that isn't John Lasseter, it's definitely going to have to be Brad Bird. He has shown such enthusiasm for the motion pictures, I find it hard not to like him.

'Ratatouille' is the second Disney-Pixar project directed by him, and to be honest, I had my doubts, for reasons obviously.

First of all, this movie is released after Pixar's first mediocre (but not terrible) effort 'Cars' (2006), the one Disney-Pixar film nobody raved about, and it fared well with critics and audiences, but it isn't universally loved like 'Toy Story' (1995) or 'Finding Nemo' (2003). Plus, Brad Bird's earlier effort was 'The Incredibles' (2004) which EVERYBODY (including myself) loved and to go from superheroes, to making a movie about a rat who cooks in a kitchen and everybody eats the food seems like a downgrade.

Yes, you heard right, the premise for this movie is a rat that cooks in a kitchen and everybody eats the food. If you pitched this idea to anyone else, including live-action filmmakers, they would laugh in your face. Ratatouille is an example and a demonstration of how there is no limit to the imagination when it comes to the art form of animation. You could come up with something outrageous or obnoxious, and animation will always be there to make it possible.

Patton Oswalt voices a rat named Remy, who, with his family, is always looking out for food, you know, like most rats. He discovers one day that food can taste amazing when you combine two different flavors that complement each other.

He is in France and learns that his favorite chef Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett) has passed away and the legacy of his restaurant is owned by an evil chef who cannot be trusted. Remy runs into a young, new employee at the restaurant named Linguini (Lou Romano) and they sort of come to an agreement that Linguini can prove himself to work at the restaurant as long as Remy does the cooking, underneath his hat.

When Remy starts treating Linguini like some ventriloquist by tugging on his hair, this leads to some funny sequences where he often trips and moves with such flexibility thanks to the art form of animation.

Peter O'Toole voices the fearsome food critic Anton Ego, who can get Gusteau's restaurant shut down if he criticizes the next dish and gives it a bad name.

Obviously Remy's family of dirty rats isn't happy with what he's doing so far, his father is unsure and uncomfortable about him working with humans due to the fact that we can kill rats since they're small creatures we can easily stamp on. Remy's brother Emile (Peter Sohn) is a very funny comic relief for the movie the same way Dory was for 'Finding Nemo' (2003).

'Ratatouille' is easily one of the best films of 2007, and that's saying something. It's funny because this movie left me craving for a sequel, which I will accept will probably never get made, but if it does, I'm hopping into the front seat.

For a movie that's about a rat who cooks in a kitchen and everybody eats the food, I did find it to be more intelligent than...say 'Transformers'? But that's just me.

Brad Bird really is a gift at Disney-Pixar.