FanUnity B(uzz)log

“Flushed Away” is your typically lonely prince-to-happy pauper tale. The story follows Roddy (voiced by Hugh Jackman), a foppish pet rat who is spoiled rotten in his high society London home. His little girl owner has bought him the fanciest cage, he eats the best food and he has the run of the house when the folks go on vacation. And he’s completely miserable. One day his world is changed when a rough sewer rat gets washed up into his house due to some misfiring sewage pipes. When Roddy tries to dispose of this unwanted, boarish guest by flushing him down the toilet, the rat named Sid turns the tables on him and sends him to the sewer.

From there Roddy engages on a journey home with the help of the sassy sea-faring female rat Rita (voiced by Kate Winslet). On this journey Roddy finds love and the family he never had. By the time he gets in place to turn to his normal life, he doesn’t want it anymore.

Jackman and Winslet provide nice voice work along with Ian McKellen as the villainous toad and Jean Reno, Bill Nighy and Andy Serkis as his henchmen. All around they infuse their characters with life and texture. The animation itself is solid as well.

“Flushed Away” is a nice family movie that the kids will want to watch over and over again. It’s formulaic and predictable to adults, but the kids don’t mind that. Parents should find the movie goes beyond plain old tolerable to at-times amusing.

3/5 Stars