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Nov. 10th, 2007 06:01 pmWe watched Ratatouille last night. The animation was excellent, the concept (rat wants to be great chef) was made plausible, the premise (rat has somehow acquired the skill to be a great chef) was even plausible, the individual scenes were well-written, and for once in the history of animation, the scenes of a madman chasing after a small animal made sense in context.
But on the medium level of story - the level that would be emphasized in a 200 to 500 word summary of the plot - it seemed slack, wayward, meandering. Contrast with Shrek which at this level was a rock-solid by-the-book fairy tale; the writing that made it unique and clever and funny were built on top of this firm foundation. But Ratatouille, while it had an arc (Remy and Linguini pursue their dreams), didn't have that kind of firm foundation.
That's why I found it a good movie but not a great one.
I'm also trying to parse the idea of the kind of gourmet French restaurant that serves tiny portions of nouvelle cuisine on small square white plates also sponsoring a line of frozen burritos, corn dogs, and Chinese food. I guess it was supposed to be a joke.
But on the medium level of story - the level that would be emphasized in a 200 to 500 word summary of the plot - it seemed slack, wayward, meandering. Contrast with Shrek which at this level was a rock-solid by-the-book fairy tale; the writing that made it unique and clever and funny were built on top of this firm foundation. But Ratatouille, while it had an arc (Remy and Linguini pursue their dreams), didn't have that kind of firm foundation.
That's why I found it a good movie but not a great one.
I'm also trying to parse the idea of the kind of gourmet French restaurant that serves tiny portions of nouvelle cuisine on small square white plates also sponsoring a line of frozen burritos, corn dogs, and Chinese food. I guess it was supposed to be a joke.
