Rating of
2.5/4
A pretty cute movie, but no real good laughs
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/03/08
"Remy" (voiced by Patton Oswalt) is not your typical rat living in France. He literally has the nose of a great chef. He is able to determine what is in a dish, and is able to tell that a dish needs something to improve it just by the scent.
His family doesn't understand because, let's face it, they're rats. He gets inspiration from a popular human chef (voiced by Brad Garrett) who believes that anybody can cook. and looks for a way to show off his talent.
He finds a garbage boy (voiced by Lou Romano), and uses his hands (by literally controlling the human's arms by pulling his hair as if they were connected) to create his creations that brings "Gusteau", the restaurant named after and once owned by the late master chef the rat idolizes, back to the popularity it once had.
Now, the two have to keep their work together a secret and join forces when the master chef that took over the restaurant when "Gusteau" died wants to use "Gusteau's" name for financial gain with inferior frozen food products leaning to international dishes.
Well, Pixar has done it again. They have produced a visually amazing world right down to the littlest detail. They nailed it when they animated the rats' movements right down to the movement of the hair over the muscles. The humans however lean toward a more cartoonish look, and look like they're made out of plastic and much of their movement is more cartoonish than realistic looking.
There are strong performances from the actors in this film. However, there was a problem with the French accents. The characters who were suppose to be French had obviously fake accents to no accent at all.
Another problem with this movie was that there was very little laughs in this movie. Of the laughs that are in the movie, it comes from physical comedy more than anything else.
I also didn't like the storyline surrounding "Skinner", the master chef of the restaurant who wants to turn the name "Gusteau" into an inferior product, after "Remy" helps the now-former garbage boy, "Alfredo Linguini" become the head chef of the restaurant, thus kicking "Skinner" to the curb. I thought "Skinner" trying to prove "Linguini" to be a fraud was just done poorly.
Another poorly done subplot was the love story between two characters. I personally can't stand when one-hald of the love story doesn't realize they are attracted to the other side of the plotline until something happens that makes them realize they are in love.
The soundtrack was pretty forgettable in this movie. None of the music was memorable like in what is possibly the most popular movie in Pixar and Disney's history, "Toy Story".
I really can't recommend this one for adults. However, it's a good time-waster for the kids.
