It's an animation cooking flick -- sub-plots would divert the flow of the story. The younger (hey, even some of the older!) audience members could get lost or impatient with side stories.
I took Mo to see it today and we both loved it!
Mo got a little twitchy with it being so long but even he had a tear in his eye a couple of times.
And now he wants a pet rat.
I forgot to mention how great I thought BOTH villians were. (Especially Ego with his coffin shaped office!) Having two villians (instead of a villian and a sidekick) was twice as fun.
And I liked how one stayed villainous and got his comeuppance (great visual exchange between the health inspector and the mustachioed villain as they were both trussed and stuffed in a pantry) and the other, well... (not sure how spoiler-y to be...)
I did love the ending though.
If I were Remy I'd go on Food Network and sneak a peek down Giada and Sandra Lee's cle'-vage.
I think Remy would have a better chance at a view up rather than down.
I just caught this on DVD. It is without question one of the best animated films of all time. I have always admired Pixar, but, in the past, their films left me a little short; I think because of my age. This one is a gem.
The deleted scenes on the disk are wonderful. There is one in which the restaurant is first discovered by Remy that is remeniscent of the scene in Titanic, when we are ushered into the plush rich folks area, with the dining tables and, um, er, rich folks. But, it was deleted, because it ignored Remy's experience and point of focus, and that's the real story.
The writer they interviewed said that he had to pare down the sub plots and such, to make a shorter, more cohesive story.
The DVD also features a short film on rats' history that is interesting.
I agree -- the film is more appealing to adults than any of its predecessors without loosing any entertainment value for the youngsters. Definitely one I'm adding to my DVD collection but I'm debating on whether to get the Blue Ray as they still haven't come down in price and animation doesn't benefit greatly from the increase in resolution.
I plan to watch it again, in a few weeks.
It's one I could likely play for guests if they haven't seen it more than any other I own. Oh, yeah, and that's Blu-Ray, not Blue Ray. Actually HD-DVD is also a blue laser but with a lot less capacity for such things as 7 channel theater sound.
If I were nit picking, I would mention that I would not have had the woman blasting at the rats with a shotgun. Had to be a better way to present that.
Second, I am irked that so many films feature a person who is incredibly stupid, or otherwise not with it, and turn them into the top dog by story's end.
But, I forgive it in Ratatouilli, because everything else makes up for it so well.
That's kind of a Hitchkockian plot twist and it's not always that they are stupid but rather concealing their actual character and personality until the end of the story. What could you call the dumb acting, brunette "second" Kim Novak character in "Vertigo?" She was shrewed enough to fool Jimmy Stewart in the first half of the film and when he finds her again, she's playing him like she's as innocent as a mouse.
Yes, I see what you mean. But, I absolutely disliked Forest Gump.
I saw an interview with Tom Hanks and when Forrest was brought up, he didn't seem to be very warmed up to that particular film. I still believe "Philadelphia" is his finest performance -- just thinking about that opera sequence brings a tear to my eye. I also would not compare the concept in "Forrest Gump" to any Hitchcock, especially the film listed as number two of the finest films ever created, and not to the storyline in "Ratatouille", which I can also easily forgive because the storyline expression is aimed directly at a younger audience. The underdogs, yes even the social outcast nerd or geek, they meet in school can be the most outstanding citizen and capture the prettiest wife. Yes, it does come up as a cliche, but like one reviewer who didn't happen to like "Sweeney Todd," it's nitpicking at utilizing time honored cinematic stylistic motifs that actually cannot always be avoided. Most of us can still be impressed by a film that embodies the production qualities from Hollywood's Golden Age. "Ratatouille" referenced back to the classic Disney in several ways -- it didn't resemble "Toy Story" or "Finding Nemo" very much!
it didn't resemble "Toy Story" or "Finding Nemo" very much!
Thank goodness. I thought those two were well done, but still lost interest midway through.
Better late than never.......caught this on DVD on Friday,upscaled to 1080.
I agree with everyone.This is a cracking film! The animation of all the rats is first class but the water animation is the best my old eyes have ever seen.
Glad you finally had a look, although the most astounding water animation for me was when the Ents broke open the dam and flooded out Sauron in "The Two Towers."
