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SYNOPSIS:
From the creators of Cars and The Incredibles comes a breakthrough
comedy with something for everyone. With delightful new characters,
experience Paris from an all-new perspective.
In one of Paris' finest restaurants, Remy a determined young
rat, dreams of becoming a renowned French chef. Torn between
his family's wishes and his true calling, Remy and his pal
Linguini set in motion a hilarious chain of events that turns
the City of Lights upside down.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Our
resident reviewer, John has given “Ratatouille”
a 5 stars rating for his
theatrical
review earlier. Overstated? Nope. Overblown? Nope. In
fact I find it very justifiable for this #8 full-length feature
from the folks at Pixar.
A
combination of rodents and the world of culinary seem bizarre
on paper. A rat aspiring to be a chef? You must be kidding
me. But all thanks to the magical hands of Brad Bird and his
amazing crew, “Ratatouille” is equal to a plate
of fine cuisine.
“Ratatouille”
consists of all the finest ingredients and I’m not talking
about the vegetable stew. Themes on friendship, kinship, love,
inspiration and more, “Ratatouille” possessed
almost anything to capture your attention. Obviously you need
lots of passion for such a huge project.
Spearheaded
by Brad Bird (who coincidentally took over while Pixar was
undergoing major corporate shuffles and had just got off the
promo tour of his well-loved “The Incredibles”),
“Ratatouille” never loses its steam from the start
of the familiar Pixar/Disney logos, Bird controls the pacing
with such meticulous accuracy that you had your eyes fixed
once we are introduced to Remy and his brother, Emile. Remy,
yes the blue rat who aspires to be a chef and Emile the brown
one who has an insatiable appetite on garbage (which rat don’t?).
The main rodent characters are easily distinguishable by colours
and shapes so viewers won’t be lost.
An avid follower of Bird’s movies will know that every
minute, every second in his movies has something to make you
sit up straight. You cheer when Remy managed to escape the
rifle-toting granny. You snicker when you see how Remy interact
with “garbage boy” Linguini. And you shed a tear
or two when the snobbish food critic Anton Ego first taste
and agree with Remy’s dish.
I
can churn out paragraphs on how good the movie is because
it is so GOOD (bold). Period.
For
the first time ever since Mickey the Mouse, rodents simply
look cutesy and cuddly that kids might want to own one. However,
they might have difficulty comprehending the deeper meanings
of the movie. Other than watching rat cooks, rats scuttling
around and being chased, the stories and various motives of
the humans such as the evil Skinner who is bent on getting
rid of Linguini and Remy, the sinister-looking Anton whose
room is in the shape of a coffin and of course the romance
between Colette and Linguini might be a bit too much for the
impatient younger ones.
But
adults will definitely be captivated by the magnificent CG
rendered Paris skyline and backdrop and the faultless humans,
rodents’ animation. Everything seems so surreal, we
are just awestruck liked Remy when he first arrived in Paris.
In addition, the food’s rendering is also a blast. The
soup and bread is so authentic, you feel like biting into
it. Pixar has once again proven they are the leader in field
of CG animation. The azure realistic ocean in “Finding
Nemo”, the automobile world of “Cars” and
right now, they have once again nailed it.
“Ratatouille”
is a story with lots of heart with ultra-photo realistic CG
rendering, simply put, it deserved to win the Best Animation
Oscar next year.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Included here is the animated short “Lifted”
by award-winning sound expert Gary Rydstrom. Stripping bare
of any dialogue, the hilarious short is about an alien trying
to pass his “driving” test, no prizes for those
who manage to guess who is the sound designer.
“Your
Friend The Rat” is a cute feature which has
Remy and Emile telling the history of rodents in the form
of crayons drawings and funny sketches. Now remember its all
the fleas that caused the plague and not the rats.
The
thirteen minutes feature “Fine Food and Film”
is a light comparison between director Brad Bird and renowned
chef, Thomas Keller. Touches on how their careers begin and
how passionate they are about their daily work.
Rounding
up the disc are a few Easter Eggs (Clue:
Pay attention to the cooking pots on the main menu) and upcoming
DVD and movie trailers.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The DVD transfer is as pristine and clear as it is on the
big screen. Colours are bright and vivid. Like I say in my
review, everything is a marvel to look at. So many fine details
hidden in every corner. You won’t however miss them
even if you were to scrutinize every pixel.
Dialogue
is of the highest clarity except for the rifle-toting granny
sequence which make full use of the bass and surround, this
is basically an animation with plentiful dialogue and feature
an amazing score by Michael Giachinno. Even the hissings cooking
sound effects can be clearly heard.
PARTING THOUGHTS:
It’s
a pity the deleted scenes feature is not included in this
Code 3 DVD. We know Pixar has plenty of features inside their
vault waiting to be unleashed, blame the Disney execs for
pulling the plug. A predictable 2-disc special edition or
a blu-ray edition should be on the way in the years to come.
For the time being, this edition is a recommended appetizer
to please audiences of all ages. If your budget only allows
one animation a year, get this!
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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