Calling all children

Flushed Away is the story of a rat flushed down the toilet of a posh Kensington house, to the sewers of London by an uninvited visitor. In his attempt to find someone to take him back up top, the rat named Roddy stumbles upon Rita, who works in the sewers on her boat called the Jammy Dodger.

Starring the voice of Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman (X-Men) as Roddy and four time Oscar nominee Kate Winslet (Titanic) as Rita, Flushed Away has been directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell and is a co-production between Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Animation.

Even though the film is from the makers of Shrek and Madagascar, it fails to live up to its predecessors in terms of story and quality. However, it did send many-a stomachs rolling at Cineplex in Karachi, where it is now playing. The huge number of children present outside the cinema hall did set the tone for a loud evening and even when seated inside, the children failed to keep their laughter and tricks to themselves, making it a pleasantly bothersome affair.

While making a deal with Rita of providing her with precious jewels in return for a ride home, Roddy first steals the Jammy Dodger under a misunderstanding. As things clear up between the two rats, Toad, a renowned rodent-hater — played by two time Oscar nominee Ian McKellen — sends his ‘men’ (mice) after them to retrieve a cable that Rita has been using as a belt.

Things get aggressive and Toad’s mice fail to capture the two, while Le Frog (Jean Reno) is called from France to assist his cousin, Toad. What follows is a hilarious series of events including fights, sewer chases and a series of comical dialogues that are sure to crack up one and all.

The fact that over 70 per cent of the theatre’s population comprised children under 15 was a little disturbing as Flushed Away, despite its status as an animated film, caters to older audiences. The dialogue is witty, the action exciting and it’s funny to hear the stereotype comments not only about the French but about the English football team as well (the entire series of events occurs on the same day as the World Cup final between England and Germany).

The movie is only 90 minutes long, thus easing the pain of sitting amongst shrieking cartoon fanatics. Anything longer would have only increased the sense of “where is this movie going?” that crept up at times.

All in all, Flushed Away will neither be breaking any box office records nor sweeping the Oscars. However, it is a light offering that will provide a hearty dose of humour, a welcome change from the action and sci-fi that has been persistently doing the rounds at theatres here.

© Faras Ghani 2007

Published in Images (Dawn) 18th Feb 2007