With all the new witty animated movies coming out these days, it only makes sense that a few would miss the mark that their peers of the past set so gallantly with flicks like Shrek and the more recent Happy Feet. One such poorly aimed animated dart is Flushed Away. It has the voice talent; it just seems that they opted out of decent writers in favor of a few short-lived references to past projects of the highlighting stars.
Flushed Away finds Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman, X-men) the uptight pet rat of a rich UK home finds himself sent to the rather dirty underworld of London's sewer system. While there he gets mixed up with the resourceful and beautiful (for an animated rat....I guess) Rita Malone (voiced by Kate Winslet, Titanic). Roddy quickly finds himself on the wrong side of the Toad Prince of Crime (played by Ian McKellan, X-men) and his band of Frog assassins. Unfortunately, this film doesn't take too many unique turns and finds itself stuck in the formulaic conventional mire of childish movies that would like to be something more but can't quite make the mark. Jean Reno plays Le Frog of the Toad's assassin squad, and demeans himself every step of the way (assuming The Pink Panther left him with any shred of dig-....anything at all).
We're expected to laugh, cry, and take joy in this raucous of a film, and yet we can't help but feel the territory is too well worn. On top of that, the film does a poor job of establishing an identity of its own as it relies on Hugh Jackman's role as Wolverine as one of the first jokes in the film. Maybe they wanted to get it out of the way, or maybe they just didn't have much to go with. I don't know, but either way it's not all that impressive.
Despite the poor writing, the actors and actresses do well enough to infuse the script with a little bit of life keeping the audience caring about them just enough to not leave the room in favor of more concessions. At least this'll be true of the children; the parents may find themselves more willing than ever to get their children that second pack of Sour-Patch Kids. The humor just doesn't hold up under the scrutiny of an adult looking for a chance to enjoy an innocent hour and a half. I fear they'll see the movie expecting a higher caliber than they're going to receive and it's a true shame.
Hugh Jackman does as well as ever straining his voice to portray a truly meek and survival-impaired rat lacking any sort of street smarts. Roddy's character is just pathetic enough to be helpless, but perhaps too pathetic at times making us feel that maybe Rita is selling herself short. Then, we have Kate Winslet, who I feel doesn't know how to disappoint a crowd. She's just very well attuned to how to portray emotions in such a way that her character remains interesting despite the shallow development it undergoes. I'd like to say that Ian McKellan was cast for the role of Toad, not because of his already existent career of playing characters opposite Jackman, but because he's one of the most dynamic personalities you'll find in an actor. I'm not sure I'd be telling the truth. Not the part about Ian McKellan's personality-that's true, but the fact that he didn't receive the part due to past involvement with Jackman. Regrettably, the studio tries to make another joke referring to the past films of the talent involved only to find the move clichéd and in poor taste.
The animation and sound are fantastic as the style imitates the classic claymation look of Wallace and Grommit, but with the smoother look of CGI. Very nice indeed. The soundtrack is a fun exuberant mix of classic and modern rock following perfectly the template for children's CGI movies set forth back in the days of Shrek. I think its time to break new ground in this genre, and I wish Flushed Away would have had the shovel to do it. Regrettably, this wasn't the case and the search for the next perfect family film will continue unresolved.
"Flushed Away" opens November 3, 2006 and is rated PG. Animation, Children & Family, Comedy. Directed by David Bowers, Sam Fell. Written by Sam Fell, David Bowers, Dick Clement, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keenan, William Davies, Ian La Frenais. Starring Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Kate Winslet.
