The most
striking thing about The Tale of Despereaux, one of a few
rare animated endeavors by Universal Pictures, is the way its
figures move in space. Critics often comment on the realness
achieved by pioneer Pixar and motion-capture visionary Robert
Zemeckis in this respect, but never have I seen an animated film
with quite the sense of weight that this one has. While the
quality may go unnoticed by the masses because it is
accomplished in a movie about a cute and courageous little
mouse, such graceful and authentic motion deserves recognition.
Hopefully Oscar voters are able to see through Disney’s massive
awards-campaign for Bolt, a good but inferior picture,
and nominate The Tale of Despereaux this January.
The movie is a
visual wonder that combines elegance with slapstick-based flair.
Roger Ebert describes it best by using the word “painterly.” In
addition to its achievements in motion, The Tale of
Despereaux is full of beautiful images that create a realm
in much the same way that illustrated storybooks do. It comes as
no surprise that writer Gary Ross—using a screen story by Will
McRobb and Chris Viscardi—adapted the film from a beloved
children’s novel.
The narrative
is not as absorbing as the visuals, but will nonetheless engage
kids and appease adults, who will find themselves indulging in
the other elements. Depereaux (Matthew Broderick) is a curious,
big-eared mouse who is banished from Mouseworld because he
doesn’t embrace the typical characteristics of his species,
particularly fears of cats and knives. He is thrust into a realm
of darkness occupied by rats in an underworld and humans
aboveground. All the light was sucked away after a series of
unfortunate events at an annual festival led the king to ban
rats and his kingdom’s prized soup from a society dependant on
both. Despereaux vows to the princess (Emma Watson) to save the,
doing so with the help of unlikely rat-ally Roscuro (Dustin
Hoffman).
The details of
each of the realms in The Tale of Despereaux don’t come
across very clearly, but they’re insignificant given the simple
premise. The real pleasures of the film are the visuals and, to
a lesser extent, the enthusiastic voice-talents of Broderick,
Watson, and Hoffman. (The cast is full of big names—Frank
Langella, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, and Ciaran Hinds to name a
few—but only the three main actors and narrator Sigourney Weaver
lend distinctive and memorable work.) This is not a must-see
movie, but it’s a pleasant one with simple, but striking
animation that feels welcome after the more
complicatedly-designed Wall-E and Madagascar 2. As
a 19-year-old male, I’m about as far removed from the
target-demographic as one could possibly get, and I was
entertained for every one of The Tale of Despereaux’s
short 93 minutes.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 12.19.2008
Screened on:
12.13.2008 on the AMC 30 at The Block in Orange, CA.
The Tale of Despereaux is rated G and
runs 94 minutes.
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