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BY CHRISTOPHER J. TROILO
UMConnection Movie Reviewer

Almost every summer you can bet on at least one movie to entertain you, and it's whatever clever concoction Pixar Animation Studios decides to roll out.

This particular season, we have 'Ratatouille' from writer and director Brad Bird, whose most recent blockbuster was 'The Incredibles' in 2005, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Movie.

Set in the gorgeous modern day City of Lights, 'Ratatouille' is the adventure of Remy, a common rat in Paris, who just happens to have the gift of preparing extraordinary cuisine. While Remy wants to explore and embrace his love of cooking, there's the obvious problem that no matter what, at the end of the day, he is simply a rat and humans and rats have never been known to co-exist well, especially in the presence of food.

Despite warnings from family and friends, Remy forms an unlikely alliance with Linguini, a clumsy garbage boy in an upscale French restaurant kitchen. With Remy's culinary instinct and Linguini's, well, humanity, the two of them attempt to prepare some of the finest foods Paris has ever sampled.

'Ratatouille' is quite different from most other Pixar films, yet at the same time the only possible comparisons you can draw to it are the studio's previous films such as 'Finding Nemo,' 'Toy Story' and 'Cars.'

So where does it fall among its constituents? Well, the answer is somewhere in middle.

What amazes me every time I see a new Pixar film, is that at the end of the film, I wind up saying, 'That's the best animation I've ever seen.' 'Ratatouille' is no exception. The level of detail in the Paris streets, the food, even the hair on the furry rats is astounding. Visually, this movie blew me away, and I constantly had to remind myself that what I watched was animated.

The voice acting is also fantastic. Patton Oswald, known mostly for his supporting role on 'King of Queens.' lends his voice to Remy and finds a way to give the character an amazing amount of depth. Backing Oswald up in this all-star cast are Ian Holm, Brad Garrett and Janeane Garofalo, who does an especially good job as a hard nosed female chef.

There are times, however, that this mostly delicious film remains slightly undercooked, and the reason is in the plot.

'Ratatouille' is fantastic once it gets going, but for the first 30 minutes audiences might be bored by the film's lack of excitement. It's obvious where the film is headed, but it moseys along before it gets to the good stuff.

The themes also have a slightly heavier undertone than past Pixar films, which isn't necessarily bad, but it's worth pointing out. On the surface, there are the ideals of following your dreams, and not underestimating anyone or anything for any reason. Underneath of that though, there is a very interesting look at the way we judge people and things.

In the middle of this happy-go-lucky Disney movie, there is a very introspective monologue from the film's main antagonist, a food critic, which should cause all to pause and reflect upon our assumptions and the way we set our expectations. This is not necessarily a bad thing, just simply unexpected.

Regardless of whether your opinion matches the characters', the scene can lend itself to some fantastic discussion afterwards.

There are a few other sequences and concepts which may be considered a little more adult than the typical animated fare, but still 'Ratatouille' can be considered the most entertaining family film of the year thus far - definitely recommended. Oh, and the short Pixar film shown prior to the main feature, 'Lifted,' is almost worth the price of admission alone.

8.2 out of 10