Why so much hype?

Thanks for the memories!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The story of an uptown rat that gets flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, ending in the sewers of London, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life. Flushed Away has an amazing and talented cast of actors such as Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy and Jean Reno. The jokes are well written and so are the characters, the film's 3rd act is action packed and there's some good messages for kids about what is really important in life. Overall a well made and well structured animation. (A+)

British clay animation geniuses Aardman Studios strike gold yet again with this frantically funny comedy, their first to be done by computer. Roddy St. James (voice of Hugh Jackman) is a pampered pet mouse who gets to see how the other half lives when he is flushed down the toilet by rascally sewer rat Sid (voice of Shane Richie). He must join forces with Rita (voice of Kate Winslet), skipper of a garbage scow, to evade the minions of amphibian underworld kingpin The Toad (voice of Sir Ian McKellen)."Flushed Away" is both a verbal and a visual delight, with an engaging, consistently amusing script and those wonderful, unique Aardman character designs. Adhering to the tradition begun by Pixars' "Toy Story" back in 1995, there is plenty of humor for both children and adults. As a result, older viewers should be roaring with laughter as often as the little ones. It's got great energy, and pace, and a solid soundtrack (ranging from Billy Idol & Generation X, to Jet, to Tom Jones). Priceless gags include the constant appearances of singing slugs. The material has real heart (but never goes overboard with sentimentality) and the characters are endearing from start to finish. Voice talents also include Jean Reno as dapper Le Frog (!), Bill Nighy and Andy Serkis as The Toads' rodent henchmen, and Kathy Burke, David Suchet, and Miriam Margolyes as Ritas' family. The animation is absolutely stunning throughout.The filmmakers do know how to send you away with a smile, with a brilliant gag to conclude the end credits.Eight out of 10.

It is so "adult" in the sense of mature comedy, but you need to know what the references refer to. Those slugs are just adorable, but they're not like real slugs. It's so great, from the French frogs (don't miss the cellphone picture), to the tadpoles in jars who want everything, to the (Irish) siblings dancing on the boat, to all the inhabitants of the sewer city and all the inside jokes. When I first saw Roddy's closet, I knew this would be a spectacular movie. Maybe the best joke was "Millicent Bystander" -- I say it all the time! I wonder why there is no voice information on the DVD box. Were they all ashamed of the film? It's just one laugh after another and the drawings are wonderful! One of the best of all time.

Can anybody do good CGI films besides Pixar? I mean really, animation looked antiquated by 2006 standards and even by 1995 Toy Story standards. Or maybe they spent all their budget on Hugh Jackman. Whatever their reasoning, the story truly did suck.Somehow, Hugh Jackman is a rat - a rat that is flushed down a toilet. Yeah I know, seems stereotypical. But then the sewer mimicked the ways of London - to an extent. Throw in a promise of jewels (????) and an evil(??) frog and you get a pathetic attempt at entertainment.I would like to say something entertained me. Maybe the hookup in the movie? Or maybe the happily-ever-after rat relationship. But nothing did. It had the talent, but it blew up. D-