Bonjour mes amis, today we will be looking at Ratatouille. A delicious delight from start to finish and another winning gem from Pixar Animation Studios. Not only would this be the second movie directed by Incredibles director Brad Bird but it would technically also feature a full human cast even though the main star himself is not human. A rat who wants to be a chef has much potential as a premise and lucky Pixar does everything they can to make a movie as visually interesting as it is narritivally interesting.
Remy (Patton Oswalt) is a rat who has a passion for the art of cooking. Despite his family’s wishes, Remy continues to follow his passions behind his family's back which eventually get him and his family caught. Soon Remy gets separated from his family and finds himself in beautiful Paris, France where he comes across the famous Gusteau's restaurant. There, he finds a recently hired janitor named Linguini (Lou Romano) who messes up a soup dish and tries to fix it. Remy sneaks his way into the kitchen to fix the soup properly but gets caught by Linguini in the process. Everyone in the kitchen thinks Linguini made the soup so delicious that it managed to impress a food critic. Linguini puts together that Remy made to soup so good and they manage to work out a system to have Remy control Linguini like a puppet to continue to make delicious dishes which gets the station of a harsh food critic named Anton Ego (Peter O' Toole) who wants to destroy Gusteau’s by giving it a bad review.
Brad Bird's style of directing makes a huge impact on the film's narrative and luckily it pays off big time. Like The Incredibles, Ratatouille has a bit more of a serious tone in its storytelling when compared to most Pixar movies, but it also never forgets the elements of what made the studios other films a great success. In fact, I would consider Ratatouille the movie where Brad Bird got more comfortable with the Pixar style of storytelling while adding his own unique touch. The film finds the right balance of cartoony over the topness and realistic down to earth emotions and world building. The story goes in many different directions and plays with expectations to make you feel on the edge of your seat. Of course this film revolves around the art of cooking and how it is done, it's also great that they work in how fine cooking is done in the real world into the movie even despite how fictional the story is.
The characters that we meet along the journey are fun and sometimes insightful with plenty of personality to spare. Remy is the star of the show not just for being the hero of the entire movie but for also carrying a personality that gets put through many challenges that revolve around his desire to cook in a kitchen without being caught or worse killed. Some of the other rats in Remy's family have their moments as well but the characters that really steal the show aside from Remy are the human characters. Linguini is your average doofus but has enough character inside of him to make him easy to root for. Colette has a sincere but also spicy personality that works well with Linguini's more laid back attitude. I really like Chef Skinner's menacing and evil persona but he’s technically not a villain as that is the case for the food critic Anton Ego who is my personal favorite human character who goes through as much of a change as our rodent protagonist.
Of course this is Pixar so it would be easy to assume that the animation would be nothing short of spectacular and this movie is no exception. The rat characters have appealing designs and move almost accurately to how actual rats move and the way the fur gets put in many situations like when it's wet is a great attention to detail. The human characters are very unique and are some of the most unique human designs since The Incredibles. The standouts are both Skinner's and Anton Ego’s designs as they have some of the most expressive emotions that are in thanks to their stylistic designs. I love how this movie is set in Paris, France and how Pixar made the city look so vibrant and colorful. The color palettes and the level of detail makes you really feel like you're actually in Paris and they even include the many customs that come with being in the famous european city. The real star of the entire movie is the food, oh man just look at the food, it looks so appetizing. It's almost easy to make food look tasty in 2D animation but to make food appealing in 3D animation is a feat that only the geniuses at Pixar could accomplish. It's almost impossible to not feel hungry when watching this movie which is a true testament to Pixar’s ambitiousness.
The Music is done by Micheal Giacchino who just got off his music session with The Incredibles and much like before, he brings his A-material when creating lovely melodies for Ratatouille's unique setting. His composed music brings out the beauty of Paris, France and the selection of instruments are used to make you feel like your listing to French music but with the addition of an orchestral soundtrack to bring everything full circle.
Ratatouille is yet again another win for Pixar Animation Studios thanks to its well paced and inspiring story, well developed characters, beautiful animation that is another step forward in pixar's continued ambition in pushing 3D animation forward and a great music score from Micheal Giacchino. Out of all the Pixar movies that Brad Bird has directed, this one is my personal favorite. It is a movie that is inspiring to any type of creative person whether it is cooking or something else artsy and it will surely continue to be a favorite to many for many years to come.
(Final Grade: A)