Flushed Away: Review By timbruderek

As an adult, I have come to appreciate, and generally enjoy, a good family film. This type of moviemaking, which is normally geared towards children, allows us old folks to relax and enjoy a fun and entertaining movie, all the while leaving our minds at ease. So that, along with the fact that the film was made by the producers of "Chicken Run" and "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit," was the reason I decided to view "Flushed Away."

The mark of any good "family film" is the ability to hold a child's interest and include enough slapstick comedy to make them laugh, while incorporating a few good innuendos and inside jokes to amuse the grownups. "Flushed Away" followed this formula to a T, throwing in a huge dose of humor along with it.

This film included some impressive voice talent, featuring Hugh Jackman as rat Roddy, the uptight, posh butler who lives comfortably in his Kensington mansion, along with Kate Winslet as rat Rita, the resourceful, tough-as-nails broad who Roddy meets after being flushed down the toilet by another grungy rat who overtakes his home. After an arduous journey through a few pipes and eventually landing in the sewer, Roddy enters Ratropolis, a burgeoning underground city, and encounters Rita, who is currently on the run from the evil The Toad, impressively voiced by Sir Ian McKellen.

The unlikely pair go on an adventure in Rita's makeshift boat, all the while being chased by The Toad's men, which include his cousin Le Frog (Jean Reno) and his team of choreographed frog ninjas, as well as the dim-witted hit-rats Whitey (Billy Nighy) and Spike (Andy Serkis). The duo goes through a plethora of trials and tribulations, fights and near-death experiences, incorporating some crafty fighting maneuvers along the way. And of course, we all learn a few valuable lessons about our own lives by the end.

The animation here is stunning; Ratropolis looks like 3-D animation brought to life, with vivid colorization and action sequences that are nothing short of eye-popping. The creators implemented a new technique of using CGI in the old claymation style, which showcased the claylike characters at a whole other level. "Flushed Away" successfully pushed the envelope of animation, setting the bar extremely high for those to follow.

"Flushed Away" combines all of the elements of a quality family movie (a heartwarming story, simple plot, humanized animals and the idea that a whole other world exists under our very noses), presenting in a way that is visually inspiring, and throwing in some over-their-heads jokes to keep the adults interested. Though it's not the most extraordinary animated film I've seen, I left the theater still chuckling at some of the jokes, humming some of the movie's tunes (which were sung in beautiful harmony by the sewer slugs) and reiterating some of my favorite lines. Overall, it was entertaining and comical enough to put my mind at ease for a fleeting 84 minutes.