Flushed Away

Voices of: Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis, Shane Richie, Kathy Burke, David Suchet, Miriam Margolyes
Directed by: David Bowers, Sam Fell
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction
2006

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A pet rat (Hugh Jackman) gets flushed down to the sewer, where he discovers a more dangerous and higher stakes world, where be befriends a ship captain (Kate Winslet) in trouble with a gangster (Ian McKellen).

Review:
Tim: Flushed Away is one of those movies that I watched and somehow forgot to write down that I'd viewed it. By the time I realized it wasn't in The Movie Files, too much time had elapsed. That meant I'd have to rewatch it. That doesn't happen often, but it has occurred on occasion in the 20+ years since I've recorded the movies I watched. It's always annoying. It finally took until I had kids (and they grew up a little) to watch this film once again and get it into my site. I'm guessing it's been about 15+ years since I last saw it. My memories from the first time? It was an okay but disappointing animated film and the slugs were a highlight. Watching this movie again as a more fully established adult, I can say my memories were spot on.

Flushed Away is okay, but there's little to feel excited about here. It was a Dreamworks-Aardman co-production, the third and final pairing between the two studios. It was Aardman's first completely computer-animated film, as they are known for their stop-motion animation. I read that this story included too much water, so the decision was made to animate it all, while working hard to retain the stop-motion look and feel. It's a bit of an odd combination- it definitely feels like a stop-motion film, even though it isn't. I wouldn't say the visuals were incredible, but I suppose they were fine at the time.

The story is average. You have an upper class rat who randomly gets flushed down the toilet by an unexpected rival. Down in the sewers, he teams up with a female rat who drives a boat and is in conflict with a toad, who is a gangster. His (SPOILER, I guess) ultimate aim is to use the sewers to drown a rat colony and set up a new society of toad/frog things. I'm not feeling happy even writing that. It's weird, not exactly compelling, and an odd choice for this story. The movie kind of holds our attention, but there's nothing especially compelling about the film. It does move along and throw a lot of action scenes at us, so it's not exactly boring. My kids were definitely focused the entire time and I mostly was paying attention, too. The problem is that while it might hold our attention, we don't care much for anything happening on screen. These characters aren't especially memorable or original. Their story feels heavy, but not all that interesting. It's all okay, but there's a reason this movie did so poorly at the box office (even though it apparently got good critic reviews). No one really wanted to see this movie and I say that as someone who's watched it twice. It's eminently skippable.

The brightest spot is the voice cast. An impressive cast was assembled for this failure. Hugh Jackman is solid as Roddy. His voice isn't especially distinct or memorable, but he puts a lot of energy and effort into the role. That much is clear and it works much more often than it doesn't. Kate Winslet was a great add, too. You can tell she also throws herself into this role. It was genuinely fun hearing the Jackman-Winslet banter throughout the film. They are both such talented actors, I enjoyed their performances in these roles. Ian McKellen is an all-time great, but his character is forgettable and silly. McKellen adds in a nice voice supporting performance, but his character is a failure. I really liked hearing Jean Reno here, but it feels like his role is over-the-top stereotypical. All I can do is sigh, I suppose. Bill Nighy and Andy Serkis were solid, although indistinct in their performances. As a whole, the cast is definitely a plus for this film.

Flushed Away might never be a bad movie, but it feels convoluted and uninspired. I have to admit, I've generally not been a fan of the Aardman Features films I've seen. Chicken Run was decent but not good. Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit is definitely the best of the bunch, but a far cry from an especially memorable film. I just think I don't love the humor or the animation approach. Stop motion can be beautiful and memorable, but Aardman's films always leave me a bit cold. That's the case here. It's actually a really good thing that Dreamworks ended this partnership (they lost a bunch of money on this film). It's definitely the kind of film that makes you pause and ask, "What the heck are we doing here?" Flushed Away is definitely one of the least memorable, most generic Dreamworks movies. But I will say, every time those slugs sing, it made me happy. Unfortunately, the film doesn't even use its biggest strength that much or often. It was a missed opportunity, much like this entire film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit