31. Flushed Away
It’s the third Aardman production I ended up watching but one that looks and feels fully CGI. I’ll admit, that did lower a bit of the charm for me but thankfully, the film manages to make up for it by being well-animated and fun the whole way through.
It’s an odd film, for sure. It’s also tough to talk about for very long stretches because there’s really not a whole lot to it. Roddy, a pet rat voiced by Hugh Jackman, lives in a rich mansion in a cage, all by himself. He plays with the dolls and figures there like they’re real people in a sequence that’s sad on the very face of it and had me begging to get this guy some friends quickly. Although, the image of sitting in a toy car and watching the TV like it was a huge ass movie theater did sound nice. But, I did end up thinking that perhaps there’s such a thing as having too big a screen for that sort of thing. My eyes hurt just thinking about it now.
Anyway, a rat named Sid (Shane Richie) shows up after having been spat out from the sewers and in a failed bid to get Sid out, Roddy’s plan to flush Sid down the toilet backfires on him instead. He ends up in a weird looking sewer city where he meets a girl named Rita as she’s trying to escape from The Toad (Ian McKellen) and his minions.
Why? Well, the Toad hates rats and he’s got this big plan to use the half-time moment of a football game to drown all of them when everyone goes to flush the toilet at the same time, apparently.
It’s very screwball but, honestly, the simple plot and themes don’t really matter all that much. I think that what it’s going for works. It managed to hook me a little better than the first Aardman film on this list because of how well handled it’s cliches were in comparison.
Rita (Kate Winslet) is shown to be sufficiently hard to win over by Roddy. Not only do they do that “misunderstanding between protagonists” thing SUPER early into the movie but it’s wrapped up even quicker. It’s actually used efficiently because at that point in the film the two of them really don’t have much reason to trust one another. As such it doesn’t feel as cheap. Plus, Rita throws him off her boat when she finds out he stole it because he thought she was going to betray her and then he wins her back by being kind of adorably apologetic.
It’s strange. Roddy’s a really good guy from beginning to end. Despite growing up in a mansion and wearing a suit all the time he never comes off as a stuff-shirt asshole. He’s got appreciation for what he believes to be the finer things in life but he’s never shown talking down to people or dismissing their way of life. When he shows up at Rita’s rundown shake of a home he gets along great with the family and starts dancing and singing on the table with them.
No, this boy’s emotional journey is really more about learning to accept that being with people is what he actually wants and that’s it. When he realizes that, he goes back to be with them after foiling the plot of the Toad.
The Toad is a villain whom I’ve seen in gifs before and I think I have an action figure from McDonalds of him too. I don’t really remember how I got it. He’s got a great design and a funny disposition. The most clever scene with him is the one where one of his toad minions, who is a mime, wears a cell-phone on his body and he speaks through the screen in the spot where the head is supposed to be.
Also, funny side note is that all the animals wears clothes in this universe. I thought Roddy did just because he was a fancy rat but no. All the ones in the sewers are all well-dressed and stuff. Even the toads have trench coats and robes on. It’s an interesting choice for a film that treats the surface as a place full of actual humans. I guess cats and dogs wear clothes too. Like, I know that’s a thing in the real world but it’s not the “common” thing to do or anything.
There’s not too much else to say really. It was a fun film. It wasn’t great or anything but I do think it slightly edges out their first go at it just for being better paced and utilizing the tropes it has better. At the end of the day it does truly come down to story and characters for me. Nail that and I'll probably like your movie.
Oh yeah, also, there were these weird slugs in the film. They were the only creatures that didn’t wear clothes. On top of that, their only job was to sing harmonizing songs that fit the situation or emotions Roddy was feeling. It was very strange. They weren’t like the Minions or the Rabbids because they never got into any antics. All they did was sign acapella. Very weird.
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15 Mar 2025 00:39 CET
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