Everyone hates an overly political Hollywood star. It seems everyone would be better off if those on the red carpet stuck with what they know best - fashion and acting - and left the political tirades to those who are a little more qualified and who have a little less collagen (well, sometimes). Now, for all of those actors and actresses eager to open their "politically informed" traps, a new venue has presented itself: animated films for children!
As is the case in the new animated flick "Flushed Away," famous faces can hide behind animated ones, allowing "bona fide" voices to make snide political jokes and references without catching any flack - well, except from the confused five-year-olds in the front row. Following the trend pioneered by "Shrek" (2001), "Flushed Away" does it all. The voices of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet and Ian McKellen go from mocking pop culture's favorite past and present films and uses a toy solider to poke fun at the war on terrorism. The unfortunate thing is that, for an elevated level of humor to be effective, the plot has to be at least relatively as well conceived. This one just doesn't make the cut.
Roddy (Hugh Jackman) is a "hot house" rat from Kensington, complete with an ornate cage, oodles of food and anything materialistic he could ever want, except other rat buddies. (See a subtle moral of the story yet?) He, however, is not aware of this void until a vile sewer rat invades the house and flushes him down his own toilet, sending him into a whirl of adventure.
His mishap introduces him to the underworld of London, or, to be more specific, a city of rats deep within the sewer system. Naturally, as soon as he sets foot on "dry" land, Roddy is determined to make it back to his posh "aboveground" lifestyle.
After falling into the lap of a "scavenger rat," Rita (Kate Winslet), he becomes involved in her conflict with a group of frog gangsters, who are plotting to flood the entire city and do away with the rat population forever (insert evil laugh here). Through his escapades, Roddy realizes that companionship is invaluable, especially in the form of cute girl rats. Slowly, the formerly uptight, hypochondriac, self-centered rat opens his eyes to a world outside his lonely cage.
There are a few redeeming aspects about the film: The punch lines can be witty, and references to pop culture frequent, but a bunch of rehashed, children's film gimmicks are only so entertaining after so many times. In order for such humor to be effective, details are extremely important.
Sure, it is humorous to portray London as an underground city of rats known as "Ratropolis," but in comparison to films such as "Shrek" (2001), the setting is just not as enveloping. The animation also seems to be lacking in "Flushed Away." The film appears to be done with a type of "mock" clay animation, allowing the film to appear like fan favorites such as the "Wallace and Gromit" series. In this case, the "claymation" just doesn't provide enough detail. In "Shrek," the Pixar animation was cutting-edge, and every piece of the castles and city was emphasized for the perfect comedic effect. Occasional subtleties do not suffice.
"Family" films that contain a little bit of adult humor are always appreciated, but contrived adult humor is never well-received. It is apparent that these animated films are celebrities' only political outlets, but they should either give it a rest, or present something new. Even coming from a rat with a (bad) British accent, jokes about the French are still trite.
The most laudable part of the film has also been done before; however, "Flushed Away" finally found a way to put a new spin on an old idea. The rendition of the "chorus" in the film, an idea also seen in "Babe"'s (1995) singing mice, involves an ensemble of sewer slugs. Their performances are unique to say the least, and choreographed perfectly to send the audience into fits of laughter. The slugs' antics and facial expressions are the most entertaining and involving aspects of the film.
Though it seems as though Australian-born Jackman doing a voice-over for a (subtly political) stuck-up rat named Roddy would be entertaining in itself, "Flushed Away" fails to measure up to the satiric family film genre many of the animated films of the decade created before it.
