The Tale of Despereaux

Just the fact that the main character is named Zoufálek shows how much the creators wanted to please the audience, especially the children's audience. The calculating nature is evident from who the actual hero is. Yes, it's a mouse. What's so special about that? Maybe the fact that a year before "Zoufálek," the film "Ratatouille" was made. Coincidence? No, I don't think so. The Pixar studios come up with something and it's as if nothing else exists. It was the same with "Finding Nemo." Shortly after that, the film "Shark Tale" was made, which, if nothing else, was at least funny and had a few good lines. I won't talk about the movie "Shark Attack," it's just pathetic. "The Tale of Zoufálek" wanted to show us that rats and mice are now in, plus it's a beloved children's book, so why not give it a try. But it would take a bit better animation, which looked incredibly slippery in some moments. The story doesn't really impress, it's simply about Nebojsa, who goes on a journey as a mouse, a rat who should improve himself, and a soup festival that has more meaning than Christmas. It's too big of a scheme to actually captivate and make me have any emotional reaction to at least one of the scenes. And I am capable of emotional reactions. The thirteenth and fourteenth episodes of the series "How I Met Your Mother" could tell. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/06/nebezpecne-znamosti-jak-ztratit-kluka.html (21/02/2013)

Indeed, The Tale of Despereaux is a pure fairy tale. Not a pure comedy, not a parody, not an action spectacle, but simply a fairy tale. And beautiful. It appealed to me mainly because of its engaging story full of various characters, none of whom (well, maybe with one exception, but that's debatable) were downright negative. They were all driven to their behavior by someone else's behavior. There's nice animation (even though it's not Pixar) and excellent dubbing - especially in the case of the rat with the voice of Dustin Hoffman and narrator Sigourney Weaver. I'm rounding up four and a half stars for a perfect "ghost" named Boldo inspired by Arcimboldo's paintings. (20/04/2014)

Unlike his colleagues, this mouse with big ears is not afraid of cats and wants to rescue princesses. Unfortunately, he lacks charm, wit and humor and reminds you of the little boy who used to go to primary school with you, always sitting in the first row, always raising his hand and helping the teacher carry the notebooks. He's an annoying brat that nobody likes. Like this movie. (04/02/2009)