Flushed Away Review (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Flushed Away

Great movie. There were a LOT of things I really loved about it: the rapid-fire jokes, the singing slugs, the french frogs, and the albino rat. I also loved that it never really got too sappy or romantic which would have been out of place.

The pop culture references the movie used weren't stale or lame like Shrek but actually really funny (I loved the Wallace suit and the Wolverine costume Roddy is perusing in the beginning). I also loved the REALLY loud noises the characters made when they bumped into things. While I don't actually think it warranted a PG rating it actually looked like those pratfalls HURT and it made it even funnier. Great animation.

I prefer Aardman's clay animation stuff but if we can get more Aardman sensibility movies out of them while waiting four years for the next stop-motion one I'm all for the computer generated stuff, especially since they at least TRIED to make it in the Wallace and Gromit/ Chicken Run style.

The voice acting was top-notch too. While normally celebrities voicing cartoons is somewhat distracting I wasn't focusing on them and thinking to myself this sounds like Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet! And Ian McKellan was actually terrific as the bullfrog. I also loved the French jokes ("I laugh at everybody's pain but my own. I am French") and the Britain football gags too.

The climax was great fun and exciting (Aardman ROCKS at these) and I liked the Bullfrog's master plan. The albino rat made me laugh and the singing slugs were adorable. The movie was MUCH better than Cars but I'm not giving it a perfect score just for the simple fact that it wasn't quite up to Wallace and Gromit levels. Still: ****1/2.