Ratatouille (2007) Review
Ratatouille is one of the best Pixar films and one of the best animated films of the twenty-first century. The premise sounds like an idea that would test poorly with focus groups and get killed in development.
Brad Bird directed The Iron Giant, which failed commercially and became one of the most admired American animated films, then moved to Pixar for The Incredibles and Ratatouille, both of which won Best Animated Feature.
He stages animation as though it were live action, with lens logic, camera shake and depth of field, and the action in The Incredibles is better choreographed than most of what the superhero genre was doing in live action at the time.
Ratatouille contains the best argument about criticism any film has made, delivered in Peter O’Toole’s final monologue.