Happiness is going down the pan

 
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Aardman animations triumphs again, with a roller coaster (or should that be water chute?) ride of a movie for the whole family. It is the story of an upper class, (literally from above) pampered house rat called Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman). While the family are away, he spends his time driving toy cars, watching television and generally having the run of the house. This peaceful life of pleasure is rudely interrupted by a fat, loud and common sewer rat called Sid (Shane Richie). In the process of trying to remove him from his Kensington home, Roddy tries to trick the oafish Sid into thinking that the toilet is a Jacuzzi, but is surprised to discover that Sid is not as ignorant as he assumes and Roddy ends up being flushed away. Roddy finds himself trapped in an alternative London, where the rubbish is recycled into a copy of the world above – and ironically it’s the cleanest Trafalgar Square has ever looked. This facsimile of London is inhabited by anthropomorphic rats such as a street artist, a stroppy policeman, an end-of-the-world sandwich  board man, American tourists, chip salesman, incompetent heavies and a squad of French assassin frogs. The main antagonist is a monarchy-infatuated toad, a James Bond-type villain with a wonderfully chilling way of disposing of enemies, who was once a pet of Prince Charles and was flushed away by courtiers when replaced with a pet rat. This rejection has driven him gloriously mad. He sees himself and his progeny as being so much better than the existing rat population that he intends to do away with them all during the (England v Germany) world cup final.

This is obviously an Aardman movie: the cross references to other films (Return of the Jedi, Batman, Men in Black, Madagascar) and their own movies (Gromit merchandise, Wallace outfit, DVDs, branded clothing, toy rabbits, etc.), as well the attention to detail (I would love to go and see Singing in the Drain at the theatre) are all there. But the movie does feel a little different. Gone are the nostalgic views of the 1950s – both Londons are bang up to date. The fantastic machines we have seen in other features are just as detailed, but are now very high tech (the use of the video phone in combination with a mime artist frog, named Marcel after the famous Marcel Marceau, is brilliant). I feel the biggest difference is the sense of scale: whereas the claymation sets never could be colossal in scale, the computer animation allows us to see the sewers of London from the perspective of the rats. This is not a bad thing, and in scenes towards the end of the movie, works brilliantly. But you lose some of the intimate feel of the relationship between the viewer and the Aardman characters, making me hope that the involvement of DreamWorks won’t take too much of the magic away.

The comments about class are obvious and silly, which is good for a movie aimed at the whole family. Roddy learns the hard way that all the class and privilege in the world aren’t always enough. He is soon put in contact with Rita, the captain of a boat called the Jammy Dodger and the only person who can help him return to his rightful place. He is from up; she is from down. He speaks well; she speaks with a London accent and in occasional slang. Rita is so common she doesn’t even seem to have a surname, but we hear Roddy’s full name quite often (but I do like the fact that he is such a foreigner in her world that he is mistakenly renamed as Millicent Bystander, even in his hero moment). Rita’s mission in life is to get rich, not for power or luxury, but to get her family out of the poverty trap. She lives with her parents and as many brothers and sisters as you would expect of a family of rats, in a dangerous house that moves more than most skyscrapers do in a high wind.

After meeting Rita’s family, Roddy begins to realise (with some help from Rita’s mother) just how lonely he is. Eventually they fall in love, and Roddy plucks up the courage to leave his luxurious world in Sid’s selfish hands and to rescue Rita in a Bond-style finale. Roddy has discovered for himself something which the book of Genesis and innumerable love songs have been saying for a long time: it is not good for a person to be alone. Roddy realises that his palace is simply a gilded cage, and it’s relationships that really matter. It’s nowhere as sophisticated a lesson as Paul’s famous lines about love in 1 Corinthians 13, but in a materialistic society such as ours, it’s not a bad message to be teaching our children. Ultimately Roddy is prepared to give up his life of luxury for a life working as Rita’s first mate on a new boat; he is prepared to give it all up for a new way of doing and being. Roddy’s final lines are ’I’m not sure where we are going, but we’re going there fast.’ I don’t think this is a hook line for a trailer, but perhaps a warning. When two such very different people meet and fall in love, when they embark on a whirlwind romance, a note of caution should always be aired.

Flushed Away is an animated adventure love story aimed at the family market with some wonderful Aardman moments for the adults to enjoy. One of the things I really like about the film were the bit parts of the slugs, whose singing skills not only give the film a wonderful soundtrack that helps move the story along, but also some terrific comedy moments when you least expect them. This movie is not going to challenge people’s inner world too deeply, but it contains very positive messages about character being more important than class, relationships being more important than wealth, and selfless action being more important than pleasure. There is also something very satisfying with the sense of justice at the end of the film: Sid gets his just desserts and is a delightful intro to the credits.

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