Movie Review Number 1: The Tale of Despereaux

So my husband and I recently decided to get Netflicks. This was more his idea than mine. I’m much more of a going to the movie theater kind of girl or wait until I can fight over the last copy of a new release at the local video store. I need some sort of adventure that doesn’t involve walking to my mailbox to retrieve some random DVD we added to a query months before.

One thing I have learned from Netflicks though is that there is a staggering amount of really bad movies out there and 90% of them were made in the last three years. We eagerly set up the query full of DVD’s that never really made the cut when we were paying $4 a pop at the video store and sat back and waited as they came in. Most were clearly supposed to be in that $5 bin in Best Buy hoping that some poor fool looking for something to do on a Tuesday night will think that the latest Clive Owen movie is a bargain. I mention Clive Owen because we rented two of his movies recently – the only one I even remotely remember was Duplicity and that was because Julia Roberts was in it - and I’ve come to the conclusion that he signs on for crappy scripts for the paycheck. I actually fell asleep during Duplicity. I wouldn’t recommend it. I wouldn’t even watch it on cable in five years.

So in the midst of all these bad movies a halfway decent movie can actually make you like it more. You think to yourself afterwards, did I really like that movie or is it because the last movie was so horrible that this one seems like an Oscar winner compared to it?

I write all this to lead into my second review. Since we just got a puppy and the puppy seems to think sleeping late entails getting up at 6:30 instead of 5:30 or 6:00, I was able to get up this morning, cook breakfast and pop in the latest Netflicks arrival. I like cartoons, for this reason Netflicks thinks that we are either a 20-something male into action and horror or a 10-year old girl who loves cartoons and romantic comedies. To illustrate this point our latest arrivals were 300 and The Tale of Despereaux.

I can’t review 300 because I spent Saturday morning out with friends instead of watching ancient gladiators battle it out. But I can talk about Despereaux.

My puppy and I curled up this morning to eat French toast (for me) and rawhides (for her) and watch The Tale of Despereaux. I have to say I liked it. I liked it better than Meet the Robinson’s (the last cartoon to arrive which frankly had a good point but not enough funny parts and dragged).

Despereaux is a mouse who doesn’t know fear. Apparently fear is a good trait for mice and after a few events (I won’t give it all away) he is banished to the dungeons to be eaten by rats. None of this really fazes Despereaux, who wants to be a hero and is finally given the chance when he has to rescue the princess who has been captured by rats. The thing with cartoons is this could actually happen in their world. You have to suspend disbelief and live in a fantasy world where humans frequently converse with rodents. The movie was okay, it wasn’t my favorite cartoon (The Little Mermaid would be number one incase you are wondering) but it wasn’t the worse that I’ve seen. The story moves quickly enough. However, the tale is more for children, no hidden adult jokes and double meanings like the Shrek movies. And of course it has the requisite happy ending – perfect for children of all ages. All in all a good beginning to a rainy Saturday morning.

And just incase you are wondering I ranked it a 3 out of 5 on Netflicks, which means I liked it but wouldn’t rush out to rent it again.