Customer Reviews

Tale of Despereaux

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

How do I describe THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX? On the one hand, it's got top-notch animation, wonderful voice acting, and interesting characters. On the other hand, it has a few too many characters, grown-up themes, and requires the viewer's rapt attention. On the gripping hand, it's just not for little ones. To be clear, it's fine for young ones to watch, it just seems that they are not the film's intended audience. This is odd since it LOOKS like it's a kid's show. It was advertised as a kid's show. But my 4-year-old only watched when Despereaux himself was on the screen, and my 11-year-old spent most of the movie telling me how different it was from the book. My husband and I liked it, but we all agreed it was simply "OK."

THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX is actually a couple of tales, starting with the story of a sea-faring rat named Roscuro who loves soup. Through a horrible twist of fate, Roscuro's presence results in the queen's death (death by soup, believe it or not) and the banning of soup and rats from the kingdom. I had to wonder why no one had thought to banish the rats before but eh. Roscuro ends up in the dungeon where only the rats hang out. The second story is about Despereaux the mouse. We decided that Despereaux must be Flemish for "Dumbo" since that's pretty much who this mouse looks like. He can even fly with his giant ears. Despereaux is literally fearless and as such is banished from mousedom for fear of the other meeses learning his bad traits. Guess where he's banished to. That's right, the rat dungeon. Another story is about a peasant girl who dreams of being a princess. Apparently, this was toned way down from the novel, in that the girl's owner only sneers at her and doesn't beat her in the movie. We see how she is sold to the king's cook along with a herd of pigs. She eventually teaches us a lesson about jealousy. Then there's the king's story. He's so sad at the loss of the queen that he bans soup and rats (as we've covered) and sits in his room all day plucking a mandolin. His sadness manifests itself as gray clouds and no rain - everything dies. Then there's the princess who wishes she could fix everything, the jailer who wishes he could undo a tragic mistake, a cook who wishes he could once more make soups, an evil rat who doesn't seem terribly evil, and, and, and... As I said, there's a whole lot going on.

The short answer is that THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX itself is not offensive, but there are better options in this genre. Take a look at Dragon Hunters, for instance. It deals with the same themes as Despereaux (honor, courage, valor) but my family liked it a lot more.

*Spoiler Alert. A request was made to add this for people who don't like to see storyline*

My daughter wanted to see this film. Probably because the ads showed a cute mouse. We had never heard of this book so I can't judge the story.

The qualities of the stories are simple. Mistakes, redemption, pure of heart, honor, etc.

The movie opens with a ship heading to a city. On it is Roscuro the rat. Wearing cloths and an ear ring he looks forward for the famous Soup of the day of the kingdom of Dor. Wandering through the city he accidentally finds himself in the royal hall as the royal family are first to try the soup. Too entranced with the smell; Roscuro falls into the Queens soup and she is shocked to see a Rat, suffers a heart attack and dies. The guards chase him and he eventally falls into a drainage where he lands in Ratworld. There he is discovered by Botticelli who befriends him and decides to teach him the proper ways of being a Rat.

The grieving king then declares no more soup and rats are outlawed and any who harbor them will be punished.

Despereaux is born in mouseworld. He is not a typical mouse. Smaller then normal and he has over-sized ears. What's worst is that he doesn't cower, run, and he likes to take the cheese from mouse traps. His parents are called into school and told he is about to fail since he does not cower from knives and he draws pictures of cats. Even names one fluffy. The school master suggests that Despereaux follow his brother who graduated and was a proper mouse and could teach by example.

They head off to the library where Despereaux is supposed to eat books but instead he starts reading them and learns about knights, honor and questing to save the fair princess. This eventually takes him to the Princess Peas room where he befriends her as she is curious by his gentlemanly ways.

Eventually, Desperaux is found out and he is punished as he has gone too far by talking to a human.

He is sent to Ratword where no mouse ever returns. The rats find him and toss him into a Colosseum where he is to be sacrificed to a cat.

Roscuro notices him and sees that he is different. He decides to save him by declaring he wants to eat him. Botticelli, leader of the rats, agrees as he had been unhappy with Roscuro since he was refusing to eat flesh.

In Roscuro's room, Despereaux tells Roscuro about knights, chivalry and his quest to save the princess. Roscuro recognizes the princess is the very girl whose mother he caused to die and decides to help as he may get a chance of redemption by telling her he is sorry.

I could go on but I don't want to completely spoil the film. Overall I liked the film as the hero really doesn't solve all problems. It's more cause and effect that guides the story. The actions of one affect another. Happiness is lost and as the narrator says a hero appears when most needed. Despereaux is the hero and he actions effects others and causes actions which cause the return of happiness.

The cast is excellent. Sigourney Weaver does a great job as the narrator. Matthew Broderick as Despereaux and Dustin Hoffman as Roscuro. Emma Watson as the princess(though I must admit I thought was Emily Watson). Tracey Ullman as Miggery Sow. Kevin Kline as Andre the soup master. Ciaran Hinds as Botticelli(though I must admit I thought Peter O'Toole would have been better).

Visually the film is beautiful and the music adds to experience in the right ways.

Violence wise it's pretty safe. There is fighting but you don't see things like stabbing, etc. It can be intense especially with the Rat chases and the rat gladiatorial scenes but it's not too bad. My girl is sensitive but she only wanted a little comfort but she still kept her eyes on the screen.

My daugher wants to see it again as it's a great film in her opinion and I think it's was worth the theater price. My daughter has already declared we have to obtain the film when it goes to DVD.

This is a G-rated movie, or at least that is the rating provided by the MPAA. It should never have been rated G. The film includes scenes in which the princess, after being betrayed by her handmaiden, is about to be eaten alive by rodents. That's probably the most egregious part; however, there are lots of other similarly disturbing parts - things that will almost certainly be upsetting for younger children.

The overall tenor of the film is very dark. It is NOT a cute, happy movie to give to children. Some other reviewers here claim that it teaches children life lessons; if so, then it should be noted that top among those lessons are: that friends betray you, bad things happen, often for no reason; and that the world is a miserable and lonely place.

Please, don't buy this as a "cute movie" to give to young children.

Cast (voices): Matthew Broderick, Distin Hoffman, Emma Waston, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Kline, William H. Macy, Stanley Tucci, Frank Langella, Sigourney Weaver
Director: Sam Fell, Robert Stevenhagen
Running Length: 1:30
MPAA Classification: G

Despereaux (Broderick) is a mouse who is banished from Mouseworld for not acting like a mouse. He doesn't cower, he doesn't intentionally trip mousetraps, and he speaks to humans. In the human's world, he meets Princess Pea (Watson), and decides to go on a quest for her to restore sunlight to a dark and grey kingdom. He is assisted by the rat Roscuro (Hoffman), who had caused the problem in the first place. Meanwhile, Miggory Snow (Ullman), the princess's servant, is plotting to remove the princess and take her place.

"Despereaux" has a more complex story than one might expect from G-rated fare, but it is not too much to alienate younger viewers. The storylines intersect well, and all come together in the end. The animation is good, but not Pixar quality. That is a small complaint, and Pixar is in a league of their own anyway. The voice talent is made up of many big names, and Broderick, Hoffman, and Watson are all excellent. This is an entertaining family film that can be enjoyed by all.

Just to warn you, there are possible spoilers in this review.

The Tale of Despereaux sounded like a really good movie. Who doesn't like cute and likeable characters voiced by good actors in a heroic tale. That's what this movie is marketed as, but once you watch it, you see that that's not the kind of movie it is at all.

The beginning of the movie was painfully slow. The plot did not advance well at all. There was no action until about the last half hour of the movie. Before that, all we got was the background story about the different players, which I must say, didn't really fit together all that well. So not only was most of the movie slow, it was also a little choppy and didn't really make sense. At the end it sort of all came together, but I was hoping for more of an "ah-ha" moment. It never came.

Something else that bothered me a little about this film was that it was rated G for all audiences, but I wouldn't let young children watch this movie. First of all, there is nothing to keep their attention. There was very little action and very few funny scenes (I remember laughing once when Despereaux tripped the mouse traps on purpose the first time and that's it). And secondly and more importantly in my opinion was the fact that most of the movie was very dark and disturbing. The bad guys were really disgusting and evil rats, who ate the mice that were banished to their "world" and who also at one point in the movie attempted to eat the human princess. They didn't succeed, but it gave *me* a nasty feeling, and I'm an adult. I would hate to think what it would do to young children.

Yet another thing that was a little annoying was the fact that at the end of the movie, where you would expect a moral (in this case, forgiveness rather than holding a grudge or being bitter is the right thing to do and it will make you feel good) was poorly presented. For example, the girl that helped betray the princess to the rats (who were going to eat her) didn't help her escape and never asked for forgiveness and that was kind of annoying and didn't seem to fit in with the "moral". But then, that whole character was kind of annoying, and didn't really add anything to the movie in my opinion. Telling her part of the story just made the beginning that much longer and more boring.

Also, on a side note, I wasn't all that impressed that a crack was made at the beginning about how, to the people of the kingdom, Soup day was better and more important than Christmas. This was just foolish and uncalled for. Again, it didn't advance the storyline any. It just came across as a cheap shot at Christmas.

All in all, the actors did a fairly good job with a really bad storyline. My recommendation is to skip this movie and go find something more funny or adventuresome.

beautiful artwork and charming characters; i didn't like the very prominent message: break the rules (laws?), especially since very young children will be the main viewers; all adults (parents, teachers, officials, chefs, etc) are portrayed as fuddy-duddy and, of course, end up being wrong; the hero is seen performing dangerous stunts that defy the "rules" set up to protect small children. Adults should supervise.

I ended up enjoying this movie a lot more than I expected. The animation meets very high standards, but there's a lot of good animation around these days. Instead, it features characters that I really like and a surprisingly complex plot.

I liked the premise, too, that the brave little mouse lives in Mouseworld society where bravery is actively discouraged. He even talks to humans - an unconscionable act of bravery. He goes through life blithely unaware that there's anything wrong, until his antics earn exile from his timid world. That's about when things start getting complicated. A third society, the rats, adds itself to the mouse and human worlds, with plots moving along in each and between them. Another movie might have collapsed under the weight, but this one managed to tie all the threads together and finish them off neatly.

A number of dramatic moments might be a bit much for skittish kids. Perhaps the book would help prepare your little one, but you'll know best. The right kid will enjoy it a lot, but there's plenty here for the grown-up buying the tickets, too.

-- wiredweird

Despereaux is a mouse who seeks a heroic quest based on the values of honor, justice and courage. He finds his mission after being booted out of Mouse World for not being sufficiently timid and cowering. Despereaux escapes from the Rat World dungeon and seeks to return sunlight to the Kingdom of Dor. The kingdom has been in mourning since the death of the Queen due to an unfortunate incident involving soup and a rat named Roscuro.

Meanwhile Roscuro seeks the forgiveness of the Princess. But, when his apology is refused, Roscuro turns bitter and seeks his revenge by manipulating a jealous chambermaid named Millery Sow. Eventually Despereaux, Roscuro and Millery find their "happily ever afters" and the Kingdom of Dor is restored to its former greatness.

This is an intelligent, ambitious kid's story that touches on the themes of bravey, kindness and mercy. These are values worth teaching. But the movie has so many sub-plots and metaphors involving soup, rain and a spool of thread it's easy to get confused. Perhaps these were better explained in the book. In any case, this is a better than average movie that most children and many adults will appreciate.

Okay, as a parent I LOVED this movie. It was so nice to see a movie that had a simple moral value. Yes it was predictable but that was nice! It was something that a child could identify with and take to heart. I get so tired of the garbage that are in kids movies these days. I would recommend this to any parent who wants to teach their child the simple moral of forgiveness and rising above their circumstances. Good story!

Everything looked Ok till it showed the Rat World after the Peaceful Mice World. Rat World's rats had fes in their heads, the music is oriental, like egypt or saudi, cobra snake dancers while the Mice World had Central European or France. This movie is not for kids and very Humiliating the Middle Eastern Part of the world.