THE AMAZING MAURICE: Rather Meh-rice

“If you don’t turn your life into a story, you become part of someone else’s story.”

The Amazing Maurice, written by Terry Rossio (Shrek, Aladdin) and adapted from the work of Terry Pratchett (Discworld series, Good Omens), has the literary foundation to be a delightful satire of the fantasy-adventure genre with an interesting visual aesthetic to match and a voice cast to rocket it to success. However, in practice, it fails to quite reach that brass ring and isn’t as biting as it would think itself to be.

Crafty Cons Turned Reluctant Heroes

The film follows the titular character (Hugh Laurie), a cat with the ability to speak to humans as well as a small clan of rats with the same powers. Together, along with an amateur piper named Keith (Himesh Patel), they travel around pretending the rats are a plague to be cast out by none other than Maurice and Keith, posing as the Pied Piper. Of course, they do this for a fee before heading to the next town to fleece a new set of marks until one day they reach the town of Bad Blintz, which is eerily devoid of any rodents as well as food.

While setting up for their next con, Keith and some of the rats are caught by Malicia (Emilia Clarke), the mayor’s daughter who’s obsessed with books and stories who also serves as the film’s narrator. Using her extensive knowledge of fantasy story tropes, she immediately deduces their plot and employs their help in finding the cause of the food shortage.

Remarkable Casting, With Less-So Execution

In addition to Laurie, Clarke, and Patel, we’re also treated to Gemma Arterton, Ariyon Bakare, and David Tennant as some of the rats, as well as Hugh Bonneville as the mayor of Bad Blintz. Rob Brydon and Peter Serafinowicz fare well with the all-too-small roles they’ve been given, and David Thewlis gives a scenery-chewing performance as the mysterious Boss Man quite akin to his work on Big Mouth. It’s no surprise that actors of this caliber would join a film from such a beloved source in the same way that the Paddington films drew such a cast (which included Bonneville). However, it does make one wonder if all UK-based actors are in the same casting Rolodex or come as a package deal.

Where the film shines is its unique setting and animation style, as well as its use of mood. While this is a film whose primary demographic is children, I found the darker and tense scenes to be the most engaging. Each character is distinct from the next, down to their body language and even the way they walk. They’re also touchingly acted, most notably Clarke and Arterton breathing exceptional life into their roles. Laurie finds a nice balance of cunning swindler and protective friend, while sometimes wrestling between the two.

Where the film falls short, unfortunately, outweighs its brighter moments. Early in the film, there’s a urine-based gag which had the shocking effect it was meant to, but then there was also a subtle running joke of finding a rat from the scent of such bodily functions that I couldn’t overlook. Yes, this may be a children’s film, but I’ve seen plenty that didn’t have almost-literal potty humor. I thought we outgrew it in the 2000s, but here we are.

Utilizing Malicia as both narrator and lead character works, and with her breaking the fourth wall it was clever to a point. However, her meta referencing different narrative tropes constantly became a bit tiresome, to the extent that I began wondering who they were for. The children might understand some of this, but is it more for the parents? A handful of times is fine, but when it’s a character’s defining trait it almost takes the fun away. The story’s parallel with the Mr. Bunnsy book the rats are so fond of was a nice touch, but it still wasn’t as gripping as it could have been.

Conclusion

The Amazing Maurice is cute and just fine for kids, but for adults, it has a hard time living up to its own name. There’s a bit of fun to be had guessing the actors’ voices as you watch, but not enough to have you rushing back to see it again. If you can, snag a copy of Pratchett’s source novel for a bit more enjoyable.

The Amazing Maurice was released in theaters on February 3, 2023 in the United States.

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