amazing maurice ★★★
(PG) 96 minutes
This German-British computer animation comes from a 2001 book by the late Terry Pratchett.its full title is Amazing Maurice and his educated rodentbut I can understand how the rattled part didn’t survive the first story meeting.
Pratchett remade the legend of the medieval German Pied Pied Piper without the grisly ending (Pied Pied Piper kidnaps 130 children after village refuses to pay to exterminate rats). ). Pratchett’s band of sentient rats, aided by a talking cat called Maurice and an orphan boy named Keith the Pied Piper, carry out protective rackets. Mice infest towns, cats negotiate fares, and Pied Piper takes mice to rivers to drown them, but these mice are amphibious. Unlike cats, they also have a conscience. They question whether making money this way is moral.
Maurice (Hugh Laurie) and Keith (Himesh Patel) in The Amazing Maurice.credit:Ulysses Film & Cantilever Media
Pratchett wrote ironic satires with some lovely original flourishes, such as a utopian fantasy developed by Rat, based on misreading British children’s books. The story was also reflective in that the narrator, a lively, bookish girl named Malicia, took over the story from within.
Malicia in the film is voiced by Emilia Clarke and competes for best story perch with the cat, voiced by Hugh Laurie. And Himesh Patel’s voice acting as Keith is excellent. The design is nostalgic. Humans have tapered legs and large heads like the Felonius Gru in the movies. despicable me series.Rats are round and cuddly RatatouilleMaurice is a stocky version of the Cheshire Cat. Alice in Wonderland: Intriguing, unreliable, manipulative.
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Like most modern computer animation, it is accented with Smart Alec dialogue rather than innocence. As such, it skews the attraction towards his teenage boys, who have a penchant for wordplay and silly concepts. That audience was a big part of Pratchett’s supporters, especially in the case of his Science His Fiction his Discworld book, but it’s hard to get that tone right in a movie.
Screenplay by Terry Rossio (Shrek) tries to keep Pratchett’s satirical edge. German directors Florian Westermann and Toby Genkel unleash mayhem and wacky action while trying to honor the heavy concept underlying the story. The result is funny, quirky, fast-paced, and somewhat hollow. It’s a little shrill and tiring, especially when the nonstop-talking Malicia arrives in frame, bouncing around like a know-it-all caffeine-fueled teen. is difficult to do. It may be too knowledgeable for small children and too cartoony for first-time mobile phone users. Lots of sounds and hairy, you could say. very sorry.
amazing maurice In theaters from January 12th.
