Flushed Away
Story by Sam Fell and Peter Lord and Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais; screenplay by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and Christopher Lloyd & Joe Keenan and William Davies
Directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell
DreamWorks/Paramount
2006
Rating:


Animation fans know it's a bad year when both Pixar and Aardman stumble in their efforts. Though nowhere near as unfortunate as the "Doc Hollywood" plot machinations of Pixar's "Cars", "Flushed Away" is a conspicuous drop in quality from Aardman's superlative "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit". Just as Disney has moved away from traditional drawn animation to make negligible computer-generated efforts like "Chicken Little" and "The Wild," Aardman has (hopefully temporarily) abandoned the painstaking clay animation of its "Wallace & Gromit" films and "Chicken Run" for CGI, leaving a bit of the patented Aardman soul behind in the process.

"Flushed Away" feels thoroughly compromised, with the post-modern pop culture references of "Shrek" and inferior animated films like "Hoodwinked!" replacing the child friendly wit of "Curse of the Were-Rabbit". The film comes perilously close to the overly busy art direction and subpar comedy of "Shark Tale" in its depiction of a sewer realm populated by mice, frogs and slugs. Upper-crust pet mouse Roddy (voiced by Hugh Jackman) is given the titular treatment when sewer rat Sid (Shane Richie) invades his home. In his efforts to return topside, Roddy inadvertently becomes involved with scavenger Rita (Kate Winslet) as she's pursued by villainous Toad (Ian McKellen), an amphibian bent on ridding the sewers of rodents.

Compared to the likes of "Ice Age: The Meltdown" the film is relatively radiant, filled with smart sight gags and stellar action sequences. Held up next to "Wallace & Gromit," however, "Flushed Away" is found to be sadly lacking.

Posted Friday, January 5, 2007

Link to this review:
http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/film/flushed.away