Ratatouille’s up to 95/100 on Metacritic now, which is exactly right. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s damn close. I’d rank it below Finding Nemo, my favorite Pixar movie, and about even with The Incredibles.
It’s a bit of a shame, really, that Pixar isn’t putting more weight behind this one. I’ve seen some advertising, but not much. It’s coming out right before Transformers, which will probably hurt its box office earnings. Cars got a lot more press, but I guess the subject matter speaks to lots more people than a movie about fine food, despite that Cars had a terribly flat, predictable story. I guess it’s hard to compete with Shrek, with its stars and its franchise power, but the effort that Pixar put into the storytelling of Ratatouille is as palatable as the food its characters produce.
Anyway, I recommend this one. One small thing: for some reason I can suspend disbelief that all these French characters are speaking English (and of course that rats are speaking in the first place), but it bothers me that onscreen, diagetic written material isn’t in French. What’s wrong with me?