Ratatouille (Pixar, 2007)

It was me and my wife's little date-day. After doing a little shopping and getting replacement phones at our local electronics super-store, we headed over to get some New York-style-style bagels (like a copy of a copy) for dinner. Then, we headed on over to the cinema.

Meg and I have wanted to see this for a while. Pixar has done quality 3D animated movies for a long, long time, and we weren't going to miss this one. Though, as always, I was a bit skeptical. I never like the trailers for Pixar's movies, and I skipped their last movie, Cars, entirely.

But, being a rat-lover, I could simply not pass this one up.

The Story
A rat, Remy, living with his family in France discovers that he has a super-sensitive nose which leads him to discovering an extreme passion for rich foods and cooking. However, his stubborn father can't see past the possibility of his son's poison-detector could be much more.

Remy and his family and friends are separated and he finds his way to Paris, egged on by the ghostly figment of his favorite chef. Making his way to the nearest restaurant, Remy is soon caught in the kitchen by the new "garbage boy", Linguini.

Linguini, who is completely useless in the kitchen and Remy strike a deal where Linguini will be the face to Remy's talent. Throw in a strong-willed and beautiful french love-interest, a short and nasty chef, a "deadly"-serious food critic and some interesting characters in the kitchen, and you have quite an adventure of a movie.

Not Always Funny-HA HA
Much like The Incredibles - who had the same director, Brad Bird - there was a lot of focus on drama. Some of the characters and even a few incidentals come very close to death in this flick. It reminds me of the old adventure cartoons, like The Secret of NYMH, where the directors seem to understand that this subject is easily handled by children. It was instantly refreshing in that regard. In fact, even knowing that this was a children's cartoon, I half-expected for not all of the characters to not get out of their dire situations.

With that in mind, don't think that this is a straight out "Oh my God!" fest. When the comedy hits, it hits well. Occasionally the funny would sneak in, all subtle-like, and then are times where I could barely contain myself, let alone my wife.

Tugs, here and there
One of the things that I think Mr. Bird did well was make you believe with the smallest effort. We know that Remy's a rat. It's a cartoon, of course he can cook. However, with the various ways the various characters handle this truth, I was totally convinced that "anyone can cook", even a pint-sized rat.

With minimal, momentary imagery, Mr. Bird also pulls at emotions. When the "evil" critic samples the "chef's specialty", he is briefly shot back to his childhood, and immediately shot right back. However, in that very short span of time, it managed to pull a tear out of my duct.

In The End
I couldn't put it better myself. Like my wife, I think I'm convinced that this was the best movie put out by Pixar by far, and if Mr. Bird keeps up this level of work, I think I'll safely be able to call him one of this century's greatest directors.