Hey there guys and here I am continuing my Pixar series of reviews! The last time we did this we were looking at a very underappreciated flick of theirs, Cars, but now however we will be covering one that has deservedly been praised as among their finest. Funny enough this one was also helmed by Brad Bird who actually did the Incredibles for the studio a couple years prior and from what I heard this movie did not go through the smoothest production. It was first thought of by Jan Pinkava who did the short, Geri’s Game, for Pixar but for one reason or another things weren’t working as intended so Bob Peterson was brought in as co-director who was given control of the story. They both ended up getting kicked out of the project and Bird was brought on to direct even though he didn’t have a whole lot of time (like only 2 years I believe). So it really is a amazing how well the movie turned out to be even with all of these issues going on behind the screens! So with that out of the way let’s take a closer look at how all of the right ingredients came together to make one phenomenal feature!
The story is narrated to us by our protagonist, Remy, an unusually intelligent rat who has an eye for making food thanks to his strong sense of smell, and taste and he dreams to become a chef just like his idol, Auguste Gusteau. His way of thinking however is at odds with the rest of the colony, especially the leader/his father, Django, who only see food as a means to survive and nothing more. Things change for Remy one day when he tries to get some spices for his food only to not only find out that Gusteau is dead, but also get caught by the old lady which causes the whole colony to run away leading Remy to get separated from the group. Lost, and scared Remy finds himself in the city of Paris, France, where he stumbles into Gusteau’s own restaurant. He observes the kitchen and sees that a young garbage boy named Linguini (who just got the job as his mother knew Gusteau personally) accidently knock over some soup and attempt to fix it to dismal results. Not content with letting it go to waste Remy steps up and fixes the soup right in front of Linguini’s eyes. While the head chef, Skinner, demand that Linguini kill the rat he instead seizes an opportunity and decides to let Remy go so he can help him cook. Remy does eventually agree to help him and they end up working together in order to replicate the soup which ends up in the restaurant coming back to life in a big way. But with Skinner getting suspicious, and infamous food critic, Anton Ego, taking notice of this comeback will Remy, and Linguini be able to keep this up while keeping their friendship intact in the process?
On paper this seems like a really strange, and commercially unappealing idea for a movie. I mean a rat who knows how to cook? How will this work? Couple that in with the troubled production and you’d think this wouldn’t turn out as great, and clever as it ended up being. I feel like this one exemplifies one of the many things I love about Pixar originals and how their able too take these really out there concepts and create something thematically rich, and emotionally powerful out of them. The story presented here works on many levels as it is paced perfectly and actually does go in some directions that I actually wasn’t expecting it to go in as the twists and turn presented were really well done and set up nicely and there’s never a dull moment throughout the 111 minute runtime. Heck I feel like the plot synopsis I wrote sells the movie as a little more conventional then as it actually is (a typical two people have to team up to succeed type story) but it’s a little more than that as the hows and whys as well as the various plot reveals, and character relationships, and development add so much to it. Another aspect it shares with the Incredibles (or really any of Brad Bird’s movies) is the sharp and often really funny dialogue presented as there are some many quotable lines of dialogue that I find myself thinking about often like Remy’s narration, and Ego’s terrific monologue about what it truly means to be a critic and to criticize and the true meaning behind Gusteau’s famous saying “Anyone can cook”. Speaking of which the screenplay does an excellent job of conveying the themes of the film as it really is a celebration of creativity and using what talent you have to the fullest while also striving to try new things at the same time as well as not letting differences keep you from striving to become what you want to be and it makes for a really satisfying, and inspiring experience. It is also able to find a nice balance of both subtle emotional beats (this movie is more likely to leave you happy than crying I feel), and laugh out loud comedy (I always get a kick out of the scene where Remy and Linguini first start cooking together) that never fails to crack me up every time I watch the movie while also not feeling the need to talk down to kids or appeal exclusively to them and just be its own thing. Really everything about the writing in general though just clicks with me on so many levels that it makes me excited every time I watch it.
As someone who has visited Paris before, I feel that Pixar really did capture the beauty of it perfectly here. Everything is just so beautifully rendered that it actually does feel like your in the city itself and I love how we are in a rat’s point of view which makes everything seem bigger which made for some stunning visuals at times (like when Remy first sees that he is in Paris) and even when we are taken to where the rats live it still looks appropriately dirty and makes good use of the small scale environment. It also helps that this is an extremely well crafted feature as Bird uses point of view of Remy in some really neat ways to create some exciting (and surprisingly intense) set pieces with some stand outs being when the old lady tries to kill Remy, and Emile, Remy finding his way to Paris, when Remy tries to escape from the kitchen, and Skinner trying to chase Remy through the streets of Paris to get Gusteau’s will back. As for the looks of the characters well the rats I thought were really well done as the designers did do a very good job of making them look as visually appealing as a rat can be in animated form and the textures of the fur were extremely detailed as well. The humans are also designed in a more realistic way but like the rats they still have certain features like the eyes that give them a more animated look and they are also very well done. Then there are the movements which are also handled nicely as the way the rats move around looks just like the real thing, and the animators were able to do a nice job of making them move realistically when needed, though there are times where Linguini can get very energetic which makes the scenes of him trying to move around with Remy always pulling on his hair very entertaining to watch. The stand out element of the animation though is without a doubt the food itself! Apparently the biggest challenge when animating the feature was making computer generated food that looked appetizing and they really knocked out of the park here as while the food may not look real, I still feel like reaching into the screen and taking a bite out of it as it looks so detailed, and delicious (the ratatouille itself looks great)! One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Remy is fixing the soup and not only is it a great piece of visual story telling but the finished soup itself just looked mouth watering. So yeah I would recommend not seeing this one an empty stomach because you will be hungry after. I also want to mention that this was Michael Giacchino’s second Pixar movie score after the Incredibles and I’ve always found his music here to be really good, particularly the main theme song, “Le Festin”, sung by Camille which I just find to be a really relaxing piece of music and fits in nicely with all of the beautiful imagery of the City of Love.
Out of all of the Pixar protagonists I’ve always found Remy to be one of the more interesting, and relatable ones out there with a lot to him. The idea of his character is creative (a rat with kneen taste for food, and who acts more like a human) and you do feel sympathy for him as he wants to do more with his life than his fellow rats and you totally understand his goals, his talents, and how he views the world around him. The movie does take a good deal of time to establish him and I really like that he is not perfect as he can be stubborn, and isn’t always nice to others (he runs away from Linguini first chance he gets before getting a change of mind) but in the end he wants to do the right thing and do what he loves most which is cooking. Patton Oswalt does a great job bringing him to life, and nails the more sincere scenes in the feature while the animators are actually given a chance to shine in using Remy’s facial expressions to convey what he is thinking in the scenes where he is with Linguini. He also has some really funny, and poignant conversations with Gusteau as his figment of his imagination voiced with much gusto by Brad Garrett. Meanwhile his father, Django, played very well by Brian Dennehy is a lot more cynical than his son and believes rats just need to do what they can to survive and that they cannot co exist with humans. While they definitely have different opinions they still do care for each other and in the end Django just wants his son to be safe and I really liked how that plot thread concluded. Then there’s Emile, Remy’s brother, who is a very funny comedic relief character one who may not entirely understand his brother’s weird obsession with food, and humans but still helps him out anyway and it is neat that Peter Sohn would later go on to direct his own feature for Pixar, the Good Dinosaur. On the human side we have Linguini who is another great character who, while bumbling, is never annoying and is really sympathetic as we see his relationship with Remy grow and figure out how to become more confident in himself and Lou Romano was perfectly cast as him. His interactions with fellow chef (and eventual second teacher), Colette, are a highlight as they are hilarious together with their two completely different personalities and Janeane Garofalo brings a lot of fiery energy to the role as well as some nice sarcastic wit. The rest of the chiefs in the kitchen are a colorful bunch of characters as they all have their moments and provide some of the biggest laughs of the picture with Will Arnett’s Horst being my favorite due to his uptight personality and constantly changing back story. As for the villains well Ian Holm (who sadly recently passed away) is a delight as Skinner is possibly the funniest Pixar baddie with his over the top, and angry personality while Peter O’Toole brings a lot of gravitas to Anton Ego and has some great line deliveries as well as some of the best scenes in the entire movie like the aforementioned monologue (one of my favorites in a movie) and when he finally tries Remy’s ratatouille. Every single one of these characters are able to stand out in their own unique way and the writers do a great job of giving them enough to do.
Ratatouille remains one of my absolute favorites in Pixar’s output with it’s phenomenal screenplay, sharp script, hilarious comedy, beautiful animation that brings Paris to life, and a perfectly chose cast playing different kinds of well written, and memorable characters. This is one of their more unique movies that still stands out from the pack and is probably the best movie that went through a very troubled production. While certainly not underrated (I mean it won an Oscar and was a huge success both critically, and financially) I do feel like it is not talked about as much as some of the studio’s other works which I find surprising because of how good it is. Still though if you haven’t seen this yet and you don’t have a phobia of rats I would highly recommend it (just make sure your not hungry before it starts). Now that just about wraps up this Pixar review! Until next time then where we will be shooting to the stars with an iconic robot!
Rating: A+
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