Por Água Abaixo

I have to admit that I went into this movie with the mixed expectations. I'm haven't been especially impressed with Dreamworks animations, minus "Over the Hedge" which I think is their first film that stands on its own two feet without relying on the popularity of previous animations or pop-culture references.

But enough on that, Flush Away was an enjoyable romp of animation. My only real complaint, is the pacing. The entire thing feels a roller coaster that you ride upside down -- with rotating seats. (Perhaps a contraption Aardman would come up with). The gags are amusing and some are very funny, but I need some breathing/laughing time between them.

Yet if your brain can handle the onslaught of information, you will be able to appreciate the extraordinary amount of creativity in terms of visuals and attention to detail. There's also plenty of adult innuendo and witty jabs at Europeans and Americans alike. Katzenburg's philosophy of making movies "for adults, and the adult in every child." is very evident here. The kids were rolling in the theater with all the slapstick, and the savvy adults had their own laugh track.

In this sense, the film is a success minus the ridiculous pacing. It's worth a look, just leave the Ritalin at home.

Hugh Jackman is everywhere these days, from reprising his iconic Wolverine role in summer blockbuster X3, to starring twice alongside Scarlett Johansson in Woody Allen's Scoop and Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, and now, just lending his voice to a lead character in the animated film Flushed Away, co-starring his summer blockbuster star Sir Ian McKellen. Soon to come will be Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain. Whew! There seems to be no stopping this Hollywood flavour of the month!

Despite this animated movie being yet another one of many based on talking animals, Flushed Away doesn't try too hard to be funny by steamrolling pop culture into the story. It just is funny with its deft touches, be it dialogue, slapstick, or various sight gags. Although it's set primarily in the sewers, it's beautiful chaos, with loads of little details all over that you'll probably need to watch it twice over to appreciate all the effort put in to create the computerized graphical sets.

At first glance, you might think you're watching a Wallace and Gromit animated show. Yes, this is produced by the same studio, Aardman Animations, in association with Dreamworks, and it is no wonder that the animation, although computer generated, maintained a very clay like look and feel, as well as character designs bearing similar resemblance in style to W&G.

The story is simple enough, yet adequately satisfying by the time the end credits roll. As the trailer suggested, Aristocratic rat pet Roddy from Kensington (Hugh Jackman) thought he just had the whole classy apartment to himself, when an unexpected guest Sid (Shane Richie) from the sewers gatecrashes into his abode, and ejects him through the "jacuzzi". All these in less than 10 minutes. So begins a mad journey in an unknown sewer world which replicated the modern London City above it with junk, where he has to figure out friend from foe, and find his way back to where he belongs.

The themes of family and friends do not come on too strongly, instead the story preferred to let the character interactions bring forth the messages. Supporting or interfering in his quest are characters like Rita (Kate Winslet), The Toad (Ian McKellen), French Le Frog (Jean Reno), and rat minions Whitey (Bill Nighy) and Spike (Andy Serkis). It's quite commendable that in its less than 90 minutes runtime, it allowed for quite a bit of set action pieces to develop, along with almost laugh-a-minute lines of dialogue, a good mix of songs (Hugh sings!) and ooh, a diabolical plot.

But what perhaps is the show stealer, are the sewer slugs. Ever popping up and performing at the right time, I'm sure they are crowd favourites despite their less than pleasant looking exterior. I wonder if they do sell the soft toy version, as it should be quite hilarious.

If too many animated flicks left this year has left you jaded with the genre, Flushed Away just flushes away the competition. Worth checking out on the big screen!

Being the creators and producers of both Chicken Run and the Wallace & Gromit series, people should expect a lot from the talents of the Aardman company. Luckily, again they succeed in making a great movie with their first computer animated flick Flushed Away.

The story is about a spoiled rat named Roddy (Hugh Jackman). He leads a save life as the pet of an upper class English girl. When the family is away on holiday Roddy gets flushed in the toilet and suddenly finds himself in the sewer. There he discovers a giant city filled with rats and a cruel frog boss called Toad. In an attempt to get back home Roddy enlists the help from the female shipper Rita. But she gets him into more trouble when she accidentally steals an import item from Toad. It doesn't take long before both Roddy and Rita are wanted by the whole frog mob…

When movies like Cars or Over the Hedge get more and more photo realistic, Flushed Away puts an emphasis on fun and visual comedy. From the first screen second you know that you're looking at a different kind of movie. This is England, not America. Here they play soccer and not football. The movie starts at a fast pace and never lets go. The opening scene, in which Roddy plays with the toys in the house, is so funny that you get scared that the makers will not run out of bright ideas too soon. But one shouldn't worry. Most of the visual ideas are absolutely brilliant. Just take a look at rat city, which is made of microwaves, phone boots and washing machines. You should watch the movie at least twice to see it all. Of course there are a lot of reverences to other movies (James Bond, Finding Nemo and even Terminator 2) but those moments don't play a mayor part in the movie. The story is fresh and funny and leads to a nice finale involving an important soccer match.

What makes Flushed Away succeed for sure are all the great characters. Toad (Ian McKellen) is a great and funny villain, the always likable Kate Winslet is a strong heroin, Bill Nighy has great moments as Toad's bodyguard Whitey and Jean Reno plays a very laughable French hit-man. But Flushed Away really is carried by Hugh Jackman, who's great performance makes you both laugh and cry. He is both the spoiled nerd as well as the over polite butler. He gets heroic if he must and even carries a great tune singing Tom Jones songs. Actually there are a lot of songs in this movie. Usually that's a thing that I don't like in CGI movies, but in Flushed Away it just works out fine. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most of the singing was done by maggots…

Because of all the scenes with water Flushed Away couldn't have been done with clay animation alone. So don't be fooled by the combination Aardman and computers. Flushed Away is a sure knock out!

This film didn't sound appealing to me when I first heard about it; a rat society living in the underground waterways of England wasn't my idea of an interesting movie. But, I was invited to see a screening of it recently, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised after seeing it! This film is different, exciting, adventurous, and fun to watch! I liked Rita (Kate Winslet) the best, but that's if I had to choose one character. Roddy (Hugh Jackman) was the star though. The little slugs singing on the side are cute in their own way too. The underlying message of how important family and friends are is well done. It's great for the whole family!

Flushed Away is the perfect marriage between the American Dreamworks and their crass sense of humor and the British Aardman and their dry sense of humor. Beside the obvious jokes about the sewer there's much to enjoy for the more sophisticated viewer. Like a cockroach reading FranzKafka's The Metamorphosis. The voice-cast is spot on: Ian McKellen as the evil genius The Toad is pure delight, Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman are clearly having a blast giving their voices to rats Rita and Roddy. But the cream of the crop are the singing and screaming snails. When they sing at the top of their lungs Proud Mary you laugh so hard you have to check your underpants to see if you haven't had a little accident.