LET'S BEGIN by discussing what doesn't happen in Universal's latest digital animation. There are no arch winks to popular culture or current affairs. There are no snarky voice cameos from momentarily ubiquitous micro-celebrities.
Most importantly, none of the protagonists bothers to shake any bits of his or her anatomy to
I Feel Goodby James Brown. With its pale princesses, talking mice and dreamy castles,
The Tale of Despereauxcomes across like a family film of the old school. Bring Tizer and bullseyes. Based on an admired 2003 children's book by Kate DiCamillo, the picture focuses on . . . well, what exactly? It takes a good 20 minutes before we meet the titular
Desperaux, a young mouse who knows no fear. Even after the little fellow has been dragged into the story, the film continues to scurry after every subplot that comes its way.
There's something about a plain peasant woman who gets to work in the royal palace. We also meet a chef whose vegetables dance and talk, an evil rat with ambitions to overthrow the kingdom, and a Paltrowesque princess who has yet to get over the death of her mother in a soup-related catastrophe. The film is so overcrowded it comes to resemble one of those disaster movies -
Airport, The Towering Inferno- that comprise a clutter of subplots unattached to any central, defining narrative. Still, Despereaux is decently animated and the characters' undeniable charm never curdles into excessive cuteness. Painted in the understated colours of early 20th-century book illustrations, the picture offers welcome relief after the visual hysteria of less tempered releases such as
Madagascar 2.
Of course, you might also point out that it's slower, wordier and, to be honest, less funny than that smash hit. So what. Since when were family entertainments supposed to be fun? You never heard my generation complain about
The Water Babiesor
The Railway Children.Well, not that much, anyway.
Directed by Sam Fell and Robert Stevenhagen. Voices of Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman, Robbie Coltrane, Christopher Lloyd, Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, William H Macy, Stanley Tucci, Ciarán Hinds, Frank Langella, Richard Jenkins, Sigourney Weaver (narrator)
G cert, gen release, 100 min
