Ratatouille

Synopsis

Remy, a rat with a very discriminating nose and sophisticated palate, befriends Alfredo Linguini, a kitchen boy who just throws out the trash. Remy dreams of becoming a chef and gets his chance by using Alfredo to prepare meals.

What I Thought

There comes a point in the movie where I just want to throw up my hands and say "this is no longer a movie, this is a work of art". I've had this feeling in several of Pixar's movies (in fact, ALL of them except Cars). I don't even really want to review it and just urge you to go see this masterpiece.

That being said, where do I start? The animation technology has once again reached a new peak. Remy and the rest of the rats look absolutely fantastic. Their fur moves beautifully. I never thought I'd want a cute little rat for a pet! The scenes in the kitchen are gorgeous. The faces are amazingly expressive. The scenes of Paris outside look so real.

The voices are amazing as well. I'm glad they chose someone who's voice has character but is unknown rather than someone famous who has a dull voice (could they have picked anyone duller than Owen Wilson for Cars?).

What else, what else... oh, yeah, talking about character. Almost every Pixar movie has some small character that steals every scene they're in. Remember Edna Mode from The Incredibles or the turtles from Finding Nemo? Well, they've done it again with Anton Ego, the sepulchar (and I use that word deliberately!) restaurant reviewer voiced by Peter O'Toole. Simply beautiful. The scenes with this character are the ones which raise this movie to a whole 'nother level.

In short, I thought this movie was gorgeous. I'd want to see it again. And again.

All photos and text copyright Ryszard Kilarski, unless otherwise noted. Clip art, drawings, paintings are either free domain or copyrighted by the artists.