| | The Tale of Despereaux | |
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Review
Based on the award-winning book of the same name, the film features some all-star voice work from the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew Broderick. The story begins in the European city of Dor, a picturesque town know for its amazing soup. When the soup-obsessed rat Roscuro (Hoffman) accidentally brings about a tragedy in the royal kingdom, the Dor King falls into mourning, both soup and rats are banned, and the skies turn to gray. Roscuro soon finds himself living in the dank darkness of a place called Rat World. Nearby, in Mouse World, we finally meet our hero, Despereaux (Broderick). Despereaux is an unusually small mouse with some rather over-sized dreams. Despite his small stature, he longs to live a bold and exciting life, and he chafes at the dictums of Mouse World--where mice are taught to live quietly in fear. When Despereaux goes so far as to befriend the human Princess Pea (Emma Watson), he is booted from Mouse World down into the miseries of Rat World. There he meets Roscuro, and together the two decide to carry out their own individual quests and right what has been wronged. While Roscuro soon finds himself going astray, Despereaux sticks to his guns--or rather, his sewing-needle sword--and he fights to bring joy and freedom back to the city of Dor.
The Tale of Despereaux Review
If stars were meted out solely for effort alone then "The Tale of Despereaux" would be a five star, runaway success. Alas, this CGI 'toon fails to marry any form of storytelling nous, ingenuity, charm or any kind of cinematic standby to its 'eager-to-please' attitude.
All the familiar faces (well, voices) are here with Matthew Broderick lending his dulcet tones to the titular mouse. Despereaux Tilling is a brave soul and lands in some hot water with the rest of Mouse-dom with his refusal to cower, kowtow or generally be as a mouse should be! This nice premise is just that. Nice. But the film wholeheartedly fails to build on this thanks to a scattershot strategy to yarn-weaving. Around Tilling's adventures there a conflicted rat (Dustin Hoffman) torn between his weasely nature and his love of soup and sunlight, a melancholy princess (Emma Watson) and a lonely dungeon master (Robbie Coltrane) to name but three plot strands. When meshed together this cacophony of stories conspire to form one, diluted idea - that Tilling, despite being a 2-inch mouse, can change an entire kingdom's destiny - pat sentimentality that we've experienced before on the back of cereal boxes.
"The Tale of Despereaux" is a throwaway fantasy, but one that should attract a modicum of interest this Holiday season if only for its unique blend of animation styles. Animated efforts have come a long way since the days of "Toy Story" and it feels indicative of the film on the whole that you're reduced to pointing out its technical achievements rather than its storytelling prowess.
Special Features
Making-of, Featurettes, Interactive games,
Product Details
Region 2
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital
Running Time: 93 minutes
Production Year: 2008
Main Language: English
Subtitles: English\Arabic
Category: Cartoons
Certificate: U Universal - Suitable for all
Directed by: Rob Stevenhagen and Sam Fell
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Release Date: 20-04-2009
