My wife and I have an almost contest that we do when we go to a movie these days. We don’t really compete against each other per se, we just stare in incredulous shock as we count the amount of production companies/studios are involved in the making of a film. Before watching The Amazing Maurice, the highest count we saw was 5. Maurice started and my jaw kept on dropping lower and lower as I eventually counted the number 6. Now, there really isn’t any correlation of how this number is to how the good the film, it’s just something to think about how many pitch meetings had to take place in order to get the funding in place for the creation and distribution of this film. It’s rare for an animated feature to go through this process, but it does happen.
The Amazing Maurice is based on an award winning book of the same name by the legendary fantasy novelist, Sir Terry Pratchett. It follows a group of talking rodents, a human boy named Keith (Himesh Patel), and their leader, a ginger cat named Maurice (voiced by Hugh Laurie).
This group leads an interesting life where they show up in a town to trick them into thinking they have a rat problem and that Maurice and Keith’s flute are the only things that can save them. This scam even has an accompanying almost musical number and when the number started I wasn’t sure if I had unknowingly stepped into a musical (which I would be totally fine with, as it’s one of my favorite genres), as I went into the film as blind as I could, not watching or reading anything. Interestingly, this is the only number in the film.
It is acknowledged that the rodents’ and the cat’s ability to talk is very strange and we find out that it is a relatively recent phenomenon that they gained sentience and eventually we get an explanation for how it happened. Some of them are searching for a higher purpose than shaking down villages. They want to go to a paradise of sorts when harmony between humans and talking animals live in harmony.
Eventually they find their way into a town that already has a mysterious rat problem that provides our protagonists challenges to their worldviews and wits. It starts out fairly bland and didn’t do much for me. Then about a half hour it, the film starts to get VERY good. There are some very deep philosophical themes that one doesn’t expect to be interspersed in a film with a decent amount of potty humor. I want to say that it’s a miracle that the story is as good as it is, but apparently the source material is universally beloved and has spawned many adaptations in various mediums.
It is a VERY British film, with the voice acting being really quite spectacular. Hugh Laurie (House, M.D.), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), David Thewlis (Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter franchise), and Himesh Patel (Yesterday) all give great performances and showcases the voice talents from across the pond.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Amazing Maurice is a surprisingly great movie. I really cared for the characters and the climax lands brilliantly. It’s a fantasy mashup that just works.
That sounds like a fun and unique way to enjoy movies! It’s fascinating to see how many production companies are involved, especially in animated features. The number of studios can definitely reflect the complexity and scale of a film’s production. I bet it adds an extra layer of interest to your movie nights!