'The Tale of Despereaux' review

(Credit: Universal)

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A bit complicated for a kids movie: After Roscuro (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) the rat falls into a vat of soup on the kingdom of Dor’s beloved Soup Day, rats are banished to Ratworld and soup is banned. Then there’s the arrival of Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a mouse who would rather be brave than timid, who falls for Princess Pea (Emma Watson) and gets booted from Mouseworld into Ratworld. (Genius names for societies, no?) Meanwhile an unattractive servant girl (Tracey Ullman), of course, longs to be a princess. The film features voice work from Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Frank Langella and many more, and Sigourney Weaver narrates in placating tones that sounds like she’s patting viewers on the head—while saying things like “Whenever you have hope, you’re never really anybody’s prisoner.”

The buzz: This computer-animated fairy tale is the first for Universal and is based on Kate DiCamillo’s award-winning book. But rodents with a fondness for soup and a refusal to stick to the status quo seem just a bit like the stars of Pixar's brilliant “Ratatouille,” and so much recognizable celeb voice work often distracts from the fantasy on screen.

The verdict: Rata-terrible. “Despereaux” has visuals that aren’t even as engaging as “South Park” and a story less involving than what your average first grader composes. Youngsters may envy Desperaux's super hearing, vision and smell, but the film does little to appeal to your senses.

Did you know? Apparently, the narrator claims, banning rats would be just like outlawing flies, sweat or Monday morning. And what’s wrong with that?

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