“It’s not even that I have suggestions or an idea on how to make it better... what they did with what they had was great. But nothing stands out as terrific and one of a kind, either.”
Ratatouille was a film released in 2007, directed by Brad Bird and starring Patton Oswalt as Remy, as well as Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini. It is ultimately about a highly sophisticated Parisian rat gifted with an extraordinary sense of smell and a passion for cooking. He forms an unlikely, covert culinary alliance with a clumsy, talentless garbage boy at a prestigious restaurant, using the boy as a literal puppet to whip up world-class dishes and challenge the rigid prejudices of the culinary world... proving that genius can come from the most unexpected places.
52-WEEK MOVIE CHALLENGE #4 - AN ANIMATED FILM WITH A ONE-WORD TITLE
For this prompt, I had a pick of the litter. There were so many one-word titled animated films in existence, but it really just came down to two for me, and they were both Pixar films. Either I would watch the most recent film released, Hoppers... which I have yet to watch and probably will very soon... or Ratatouille, which is the only other Pixar film that, for whatever reason, I’ve never seen, nor have I really ever been interested enough to check out. I knew it would ultimately be a challenge or a series along those lines that would get me to watch it. So, here we are. What was my experience?
Well, the best way I can put it is: what I expected out of it... I got, more or less. It’s an adequate animated film, coming a little over a decade into Pixar’s history. It arrived after Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles... right smack dab in the middle of their peak popularity, I would say. It’s a film that is cute. It has a lot of heart. I would say it’s original and even a little bit bold to tell the story of a cook who is also a rat in a well-respected restaurant environment. As we all know, rats in any kind of restaurant are a cause for concern, as they carry diseases. And they’re just kinda icky all around. So Pixar created the ultimate dichotomy of opposites here by crafting Remy the Rat... the one creature that is unlike the rest... but will it count in a film where this restaurant is trying to impress the harshest food critic the world has ever known?
I get what this film is doing, and it does do it well overall. I liked the fact that this rat can puppeteer this cook by holding onto his shaggy hair... even though that doesn’t really make sense. I like that the film doesn’t shy away from the fact that rats in a restaurant are a very bad thing. I liked that because it’s still keeping in touch with reality in maybe a slightly meta nod. I think the animation is really good. I think the jokes are solid, and the performances are as expected, which is a good thing for Pixar. I like that this is a one-off that isn’t attached to any other Pixar project, and that it’s about food and takes place in Paris. A lot of that feels very unique for Pixar. It works. The movie as a whole works.
However, I feel justified in skipping it for the last twenty years because... I still don’t feel like I got anything out of it. Everything that I expected from it... or maybe heard about over the years... I got. Nothing felt new, or different, or interesting enough to keep my attention. Nothing made me think about what would happen next. It was very... average overall. It was very expected, predictable, and... fine. I’ve seen a lot of great Pixar. I’ve seen a few not so great to downright bad Pixar films as well... but this has got to be the... most “fine” Pixar film I’ve ever seen, if that makes any sense.
It’s not even that I have suggestions or an idea on how to make it better. Because what they did with what they had was great. The camerawork following the rat from his perspective was pretty solid. The animation of rat movements wasn’t that bad; it didn’t feel too terribly humanistic. The graphics are good, and the story is straightforward. Nothing stands out as horrible, but I would also argue not a ton stands out as terrific and one-of-a-kind, either.
Technical/Unbiased Score: 40/50 (80%)
Biased/Entertainment Score: 34/50 (68%)
Combined Total Score: 74/100 (74%) or 3.5/5 on Letterboxd