Q: What’s worse than a having a summer cold?

A: A person whining about having a summer cold.

Aside from the usual cranky, I’m extra-cranky due to the stuffy, achy, hot, cold, runny body I’m stuck in. What better time than now to write a scathing review from one of the lame DVD’s I was attempting to amuse myself with as I lie convalescing?

Flushed Away (Dreamworks and Aardman co-lab) had the potential to be so much more than the disappointment it was. I’m not even hotlinking it for you…it’s not worth pursuing.

The character design was based on shallow stereotypes that did nothing but further promote said stereotypes: frogs (that were French, mais oui), Rita Mahoney (from a poor family with many, many siblings), Roddy St. James (rich, misogynist playboy). Why would anyone want to expose their kids to that? There were continuity issues throughout from scene to scene and from character to character. The humour has a definite cultural slant to it, with references only a 60 year old Brit would get, and relies heavily on the “getting hit in the junk” gag a little too much.

If you feel the urge to watch an animated rodent in a recently released full length feature – pick Ratatouille off the menu instead (ick – sounding like a reviewer – must stop now).