Review of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) by Shininglion — 19 Sep 2021

This movie just passes as your average animated action movie, doesn't pass on its own merits. It's not nearly as good as I remember it from my childhood. The primary problem is that this is supposed to be a Sherlock Holmes style mystery but it is not presented as a mystery. Rather it's presented as an action/adventure movie. There's no suspense or mystery to it because we know all along what happened to Olivia's father, who did it, why they did it, and what they want. It's shown to us very early on. There's no riddle to solve here and everything that comes out of Basil's mouth sounds like a bunch of clairvoyant woowoo nonsense because they stretch the limits of what can conceivably be derived from observation and deduction, breaking the suspension of disbelief. It could be an educational movie that teaches kids how to solve mysteries, riddles, or use deduction, but it doesn't do any of that. And before you go saying "but it IS a kid's movie, aren't you being too harsh?" No. Zootopia is a kid's movie. Harry Potter movies are kid's movies, and they have at least basic mysteries that can be explored and discovered by the viewers as the protagonists understand and learn more, not from an omniscient view where there's no riddle to solve because we already see what's happening on the villain's side. What are the positives of this film? Maybe some nostalgia fodder. Fun characters for the furries and those who like talking animal movies. Maybe one or two jokes that give a giggle. It's a bit overlong for what it is, and I love talking animal movies in general, so... Eh. Even the Rescuers movies are a better mystery than this, and this one's modeled after THE great mystery hero Sherlock Holmes. Doesn't do the genre justice.

Most of the points I even give this review are for Ratigan's theme song. That's a rare moment of joy in an otherwise tepid movie. He's an underrated Disney villain and you can tell some of his animations were recycled from the ending fight sequences into the ending fight sequences of Beauty and the Beast. The scene glows when Ratigan is on, but I think it's a problem to have a villain who is much more interesting than the protagonist. Basil comes off as easy to give up, nagging, and can't be bothered. Ratigan by contrast has a sort of deranged charisma and humorous silliness.