Freeper Review: “Incredible” Values Shine Through In Pixar’s “Ratatouille”

June 29, 2007 | L.N. Smithee

[L.N. Smithee]

Some final notes: You heard it here first -- don't be surprised if a BDS-suffering critic says Remy is a Karl Rove surrogate. Don't be deterred by Janeane Garofalo's voice in the cast; she is unrecognizable under her fake French accent. Lastly, there is a potential problem with the heroic portrayal of rats in this movie – their actual filthiness and the fact that they carry disease isn’t addressed specifically at all in Ratatouille. Hopefully, it won’t do for exterminators what Bambi did for deer hunters. If you have a young one who becomes determined to feed rodents in the fields or allow them to scurry through the house because Remy is so cute, some shock therapy may be needed. I recommend this YouTube clip, but if you don’t need to see it, you may not want to. Aaaaaaaugh!

[truthkeeper]

Thanks for this, Smithee. My grandson is going to see this flick today and is pretty excited. Sounds like he’ll enjoy it.

[agrace]

Do you write movie reviews for a living? If not, you should - well done. And beyond writing ability alone, you just convinced me to take my three small kids to see this one.

[vladimir998]

I’m looking forward to this movie.

[NonValueAdded]

Thnak you so much for posting that review. It is good to hear such things on a trusted source.

[highball]

Great analysis - thanks!

You’re spot-on with “The Incredibles” - the single most conservative mainstream film in years, if not decades.

I don’t understand why people have a real problem with a rat protagonist, though - talking animals usually signify that a willing suspension of disbelief is required. “Bambi” had a cute skunk, after all, and I’m not aware of some rush of small children luring skunks into their houses as a result.

[AnnaZ]

Excellent review, L.N., thanks. I'm taking the brood this weekend. (I LOVE Pixar!)

[L.N. Smithee]

Do you write movie reviews for a living? If not, you should - well done. And beyond writing ability alone, you just convinced me to take my three small kids to see this one.

Thank you very much. I've been wanting to write about The Incredibles for awhile, but never got around to it when the movie was out. I saw the sneak preview of Ratatouille two weeks ago, and wanted to make sure I gave everyone the heads-up from the beginning.

When you see it, please post to this thread what you thought.

[PCBMan]

It’s kinda weird - most reviews for The Incredibles, from both reviewers and movie patrons, were less than stellar. Now it’s made out to be really great? I loved Cars - I think if you know a bit more than the average person about automobiles and racing history, it appeals to you on a different level, even though the plot is a retread (pun intended).

[John Will]

Can Pixar even make a Dud? Is it even possible for them?

[dfwgator]

Even the one sequel Pixar did, Toy Story 2, ended up being better than the first one.

It happens with every Pixar movie, when I saw the trailer for “Nemo,” I thought, how can a movie about fish be interesting. Ditto with the Incredibles and Cars. I’ve learned my lesson not to underestimate Pixar.

[ConfusedAndLovingIt]

You are spot on about Cars, so it is good to hear that Pixar is back in form with this movie.

[Thrownatbirth]

I’ll see it for the Patton (Spence) Oswalt voice. He’s become one of the best stand-up comics around.

[agrace]

Oh by the way - so glad you mentioned Doc Hollywood - first time I saw Cars I had to laugh; identical storyline.

[JewishRighter]

Story of a rat who wants to be a French Chef? Well he’s halfway there. All he needs to do is learn to cook.

[discostu]

Incredibles has a 97% fresh rating at RT, with an average of 8.2 out of 10, not sure why you’re thinking reviews were less than stellar. I don’t know anybody who saw it and didn’t love it, very high on the must see list for the nerd community.

[highball]

It’s kinda weird - most reviews for The Incredibles, from both reviewers and movie patrons, were less than stellar. Now it’s made out to be really great?

That didn't sound right to me, so I checked - it has a 97% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/incredibles/

Those are unbelievably good reviews. And not just small-town papers and industry rags, but the NY Times, LA Times, Salon, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and lots of other places you wouldn't expect to find positive reactions to a deeply conservative film.

I can't speak to movie patrons, but the reaction to The Incredibles from critics was very stellar.

[highball]

Darn - you beat me to it!

Should’ve read all the way to the end of the thread....

[dfwgator]

And in case anyone was wondering, yes, John Ratzenberger is in it.

[PCBMan]

Looking back, I believe that the DBM reviewers were disturbed by the weaponry used by the bad guy, and being as they are, did not recommend it for children. Usually a review like that is laughable to me, but some adults I know who usually love a good animated movie did not think it was all that good. I suppose I will have to check it out for myself.