Pixar’s “Ratatoullie” opens to critical applause
If you weren’t excited to go see Ratatouille this weekend, start reading the reviews that have been released over the last couple of days. It may simply be a coincidence, but every one I’ve read so far is simply gushing over how great this film is. Let’s look at a couple of big ones.
First, here’s what the Washington Post has this morning…
It harks back to Disney’s older era, when cartoons seemed part of a more elegant world with less edgy characters.
This is family-friendly filmmaking at its most appealing: fresh yet familiar, playfully mischievous but also subtly reassuring.
The Hollywood Reporter put it this way…
Yes, there’s something in the kitchen for everyone in “Ratatouille,” so the Mouse House should clear a wing in its hall of fame for Cousin Rat. “Ratatouille” might not reach the international boxoffice heights of “The Incredibles” — then again, maybe it will — but the film does rep another huge leap in CGI technique and imagination by the Pixar folks.
But it is this morning’s New York Times that really has me ready to plug down my cash…
Written and directed by Brad Bird and displaying the usual meticulousness associated with the Pixar brand, “Ratatouille” is a nearly flawless piece of popular art, as well as one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film. It provides the kind of deep, transporting pleasure, at once simple and sophisticated, that movies at their best have always promised.
In the reviews final paragraph, critic A.O. Scott weaves a terrific thought with an appropriate double meaning…
And what, faced with such a ratatouille, is a critic supposed to say? Sometimes the best response is the simplest. Sometimes “thank you” is enough.
I won’t tell you to go see this film, that’s up to you. But if this film can truly be a financial success, and it already is a critical one, what will it mean for the future of the Disney Studio? I got my money out!
Eric said,
June 29, 2007 @ 5:58 pm
Well, if you won’t do it, I will….
Go see this film!
There, I feel better.
Jason said,
June 30, 2007 @ 10:34 am
I saw it, and I really enjoyed it.
I can’t see what the big hoopla is over though. I thought I saw problems with the movie, and the restless children around me indicated that there were some. Of course, I stupidly listened to Jim Hill and his doubts about the movie, so that could have ruined my judgement.
My first impression was that the animation was stella, but the story felt just ok. The beginning was hard to sit through, the middle was fair, and the end was fantastic.
I immediately went over to rottentomatoes.com after I got home and would you believe there was not one single bad review on the page! I was stunned! I think even Beauty and the Beast has one bad review on its page. I did find 6 lonely critics that felt a little like I did, but so far the score is 95% in favor of the film, users scoring 97%!
Now it’s either just me (which it probably is) or perhaps the critics are disillusioned by Brad Bird and Pixar. Hear me out here…the critics have long hailed The Incredibles as Pixar’s best. They love Brad Bird. Maybe they are looking past the mediocrity of the film and praising it just for being a Brad Bird film. It’s like if Walt Disney came back and made a film. Who cares what the heck it is, it’s Walt Disney!!
That’s a little extreme, but I plan to go back to the theater today to see if I’ve just been messed up by reading Jim Hill. I hope I am and I can see the beauty of the film.
Plus a dumb kid was next to me hopping around and another dumb one was kicking my seat, so they could have screwed up my judgement as well.
Mike said,
July 3, 2007 @ 11:08 pm
not a big weekend though to start off