Rent The Amazing Maurice (2022)

Convoluted Retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, too complex for kids & with pc/woke casting - The Amazing Maurice review by PV

OK so firstly, the animation here is brilliant. the MAKING OF doc on the extras is half an hour long and well worth a watch.

I have never read Terry Pratchet's Discworld books - I dislike fantasy genres like that usually. I know fans of it and him.

I do, however, like cats - and great cat books such as the A CAT CALLED DOG stories (no films of them yet sadly). The characters in those are, without wanting to offended Maurice, way funnier and more feline than his gingerness himself.

If you are OK with totally anthropomorphised rats and a cat using coins and money etc, fine. But that makes the characters people not animals. Maurice is not CAT enough for me - my favourite parts were when he was MORE CAT.

I suspect the plot of this is way too complicated for children - they'll be totally lost but will no doubt enjoy the colourful animation and chase/dance scenes etc.

I do have to say that this film did not make me laugh - once. I did roll my eyes rather a lot though.

As per usual with animation these days, this is a 'white male free zone'. What is the original novel like? Did that have a 'sassy' rude little madam female narrator and an Asian main character? For a European 15th C folk tale? This is what they do with ALL adaptations these days - why I vote with my feets, fingers, paws and eyes and not not watch them usually - I like cats and thus I wanted to watch this.

There is the usual cocky 'sassy ('arrogant' over-confident rude) female narrator which is now something of a cliche in middle grade fiction and animation (Disney, Pixar). This is the new normal - it is convention. It is Not radical or different - a white male character would be that,. but as per usually all white males here are presented as either useless buffoons or baddies JUST like in most movies and (UK) TV drama - which I avoid now (see how the SAME thing ruined the TV adaptation of Professor Branestawn which was trying so hard to be Mathilda). Just got to a bookstore and look at the main characters of middle grade children's books - they either female or of colour of both. It is pure politics and deliberate woke propaganda SO I advice parents to check out the archive of great kids' books for their kids., before it was ruined by woke/pc/identity politics propaganda.

This no criticism of Himesh Patel, BUT would he be happy if white blond actors were cast to play characters from Asian folk tales set in the Middle Ages - the Pied Piper of Hamelin is 15th century Germany, and I suggest that BAME and Asians and black villagers were pretty thin on the ground back then. want colourblind casting - fine, then BE CONSISTENT and stop demanding 'authentic casting' for any Asian/African story. I look forward to white blond male actors playing Zulus and Indian Maharajahs and Chinese Emperors too, and Ed Sheeran playing Nelson Mandela, soon.

I shall stick with the A CAT CALLED DOG books (which also have a wonderful dancing cat!).

2.5 stars