Ratatouille

Released 28th June 2007, Ratatouille follows Remy the rat and his pursuit to become a chef in Paris. While its premise sounds very fantastical and pandering, the execution of this journey is a pure stroke of genius. By making the aspiring chef a rat, there is a highlighted sense of Remy’s rejection from the culinary world due to his physical appearance; this idea is accentuated across several other characters too. The film also feels as though it was primarily written for adults to comprehend before children which makes the final product feel all the more sincere and sophisticated. Patton Oswalt applies his memorably voice to Remy through his journey to reach his dreams. He conveys the spark of passion which directs his every interaction across confrontation and indulgence in this delicious world he desires to be a part of.

Lou Romano voices Remy’s human friend Linguini; an innocent yet flawed character who has natural ups and downs with Remy through the narrative. Besides these two; the other character who deserves sufficient praise is Anton Ego. Voiced by Peter O’Toole, Ego is a natural antagonist for Remy’s journey whilst also providing a rich introspective into artistic criticism which, being something of a critic myself, speaks volumes to me. Janeane Garofalo also does a solid job as Colette, Linguini’s love interest. Colette is a fantastic character due to her early mentoring of Linguini and her concrete ideals which she abides by. She also insinuates messaging in regard to feminine influence in a professional environment. If I were to illustrate qualms with any character, it would be Ian Holm’s Chef Skinner. While Holm does a fantastic job delivering Skinner’s lines, he often brings out the more pandering elements of the film which clash with the naturalistic quality of the rest of the narrative. Whether it be fantastical chases or no particular reason to show in the third act, he feels like a misstep in an otherwise perfect cast.

Being Pixar, the animation is spectacular and really serves to establish the identity of Paris and its subcultures. However, the stunning visuals are most certainly aided by Michael Giacchino’s awe inspiring score for the film. He is able to capture the symphonic language of Paris and translate it into every single scene with such flourish and charm that you cannot forget it. As well as this, there is also the original song Le Festin by French artist Camille. This song is used frequently in the film but never overstays its welcome; it is warm and uplifting for every application it has. That is what Ratatouille is; it is a warm and uplifting underdog story with refreshing nuances and only a character away from being a true masterpiece.