Rats

I have a rule. I rate documentaries with: 7 if it is great. 6 if it is good. 5 if it is less than good.

The reason is: Docs have lower ceilling and higher floors, because they are all at least an extensive view/opinion on something (even if it is morally or factually wrong), and at most they are all edits of real life (no matter how long the doc is and how factual it is, there is subjetivity and therefore not the real thing).

This one is really disgusting, and it gets to you that this is a problem that we have and would have with graphic imagery. They are a plague, and they are ready to survive even more than we are.

This documentary from Morgan Spurlock is unlike other films I've seen of his. He does not appear in the movie at all nor is there any narration. Considering the subject, I can understand both decisions.

The film is all about rats. Much of it centers on the health risks caused by the creatures as well as the impossibility in completely eradicating them. This part of the film was creepy and disgusting but also very informative and interesting. There also were portions about cultures that eat rats, folks that revere them and folks using terriers to hunt them. The film takes the viewers from New York City to New Orleans to India to Southeast Asia to the UK.

So should you watch it? Well, yes...provided you aren't squeamish. You'll see lots of dead rats, rats die and a few decomposing mammals. Not pleasant stuff, granted. But still, despite the creepiness and awfulness of some of the material, it's worth seeing and very well made.

This is by far the best documentary I have seen covering every aspect of vermin infestation. The only thing missing was the issue regarding the groundbreaking debut of Gambian pouched rat all across US.

So, this just popped up on Netflix, I was pretty excited thinking this was the Rat film I had been waiting for by the same people who did Black Fish. If you haven't seen Black Fish please do! Now, this film was not the one I had been waiting for at all. Made by Discovery channel I thought it would still be insightful about the animal, instead it's a film glorifying the fear of an animal that already has a horrid reputation in the world. They made the rat into nothing short of a Hollywood monster that's the reason for all the bad in the world. It's plainly disgusting. A simple ploy to make more people afraid of the small mammal and seek out to kill more of them. Discovery channel has turned into nothing short of fear mongering bully.

The cinematography is great. Lots of interesting footage, always something to be watching. But don't be mislead into thinking you're actually going to learn something about rats besides fear mongering we've all heard before. Seriously, they lay on the "mood" HARD. Constant droning and thumping horror movie music playing throughout, stock rat noises playing whenever there's one on screen, flashing still images of a rat's open mouth and "attacking" you. That sort of thing.

I love rats, but that's not why I dislike this movie. I'm not illusioned to the reality of them and I was really looking forward to viewing this documentary. I was hoping for a movie going through the history of rats and the relationships we've had with them as humans, the history of disease, as pets, their biology. I guess overall, I was hoping for something with substance and would leave me with new and interesting information on these largely misunderstood animals. Instead you get a movie that is exactly the opposite of that: encouraging fears and assumptions.

I'm not saying don't be careful of wild rats, but adding a horror score and "shock stills" is completely unnecessary and juvenile. Imagine doing this about say, a documentary about great white sharks or wolves. This helps nothing and only encourages us to be afraid.

I wouldn't mind a rat horror flick, but don't dress it up as substance.