Flushed Away

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Kids & Family

Who would’ve thought life in the sewers would be so grand? In “Flushed Away,” Roddy St. James is a house pet in the Kensington district of London. He lives in comfort in a large cage, and when his owners are away, has full run of the house he lives in. Yet Roddy can’t escape the feeling of loneliness that creeps in. When a sewer rat by the name of Sid pushes Roddy literally down the toilet, life as Roddy knew it was about to end. Until he discovered that the dirtiest, nastiest place he could think of might just be the place where he truly belongs.

For anyone familiar with the “Wallace & Gromit” short films and full length claymation feature, “Flushed Away” is from the same makers, Aardman Productions. They are also the company behind the popular film “Chicken Run”. That being said, this particular film can stand independently of its predecessors and is successful for being what all great animated films are: colorful and funny enough for kids yet irreverent enough and smart enough for adults.

An all-star cast lends their voice talents to the film, led by Hugh Jackman (Roddy), Kate Winslet (Rita the tough girl), Ian McKellen (The Toad), Jean Reno (Le Frog), Bill Nighy (Whitey), and Andy Serkis (Spike).

This is also a bit of a departure for Aardman, as “Flushed Away” wasn’t shot via claymation as their previous projects were. Apparently, since a large portion of the movie would feature water, the producers realized how difficult water can be when put through the claymation process. Thus, Aardman went CGI, but the film still retains some Aardman trademarks. These include the bug-eyed characters, the dry British wit, and the dedication to detail.

When Roddy falls down the sewer, he fumbles his way into the life of Rita, a tough girl who’s just trying to do right by her huge family. Unfortunately, this gets Rita the unwanted attention of mob boss “The Toad” and his henchmen Spike and Whitey. Toad has some diabolical plans in store for all the rats living under London as part of an elaborate scheme to get back at all rats. It’s up to Roddy and Rita to figure out how to stop The Toad, as well as to reassess just how happy they really are in their separate spaces.

For an animated film, “Flushed Away” makes no pretensions. This isn’t a huge Disney film or a CGI-extravaganza ala-Pixar. It is just a movie about talking rats and frogs who just happen to have human traits. As silly as that sounds, it’s what makes the film such a joy to begin with. Jackman’s Roddy is as stuck up as he is lonely. He enjoys lording it over the lifeless dolls in the mansion and can’t stand sewer rats like Sid. But when he sees Rita and the warmth of her family, he can’t help but feel that maybe his life is severely lacking.

Winslet’s performance is largely forgettable, but it’s McKellen who really steals the movie. His Toad is so over the top that you can imagine the man who played Magneto really going to town during the voice recording sessions. Reno also cracks me up, not just because he’s Jean Reno, but also because he hams up playing the French Le Frog as well. Of course, the movie could have been bigger as far as action and effects goes, but at least it didn’t set itself up to be a disappointment like “Shark Tale” or “Open Season” or “The Wild”. All of those were heavily pushed and ended up largely as box-office bombs. Though Aardman’s partnership with Dreamworks is near its end, I’m thankful that before that happens, they were able to come together for a fun film like “Flushed Away”.