Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Toby Genkel, Icon Film Distribution.
A whiff of intrigue, a furry tale and a cool cat combine to deliver The Amazing Maurice, a computer-animated fantasy comedy film. It’s the first animated feature film based on a novel by Terry Pratchett.
Written by Terry Rossio, we find rats everywhere. In the breadbins, dancing across the tabletops, stealing pies from under the cook’s noses. Hence, this calls for a good piper to lure them away. Everyone has heard of the stories about the pied piper and the town full of rodents.
Stepping in is Maurice, a streetwise tomcat with the perfect money-making scam. He has found his very own pied piper and a plague of rats to trick gullible townsfolk into giving him lots of cash.
All runs well until they arrive in the far-flung village of Bad Blintz where they meet a book-obsessed girl called Malicia, who enlists their help to solve the mystery of her town.
A whole new generation of people have now been introduced to Pratchett’s enthralling imagination by director Toby Genkel. “Pratchett manages to be casual and light- hearted yet, at the same time, unyielding, critical, and edgy. This is exactly the spirit we brought to our film. The visual and audio levels work in absolute harmony.”
Voice cast includes Hugh Laurie (House) as Maurice, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Malicia, Himesh Patel (Yesterday) as Keith, Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials) as Darktan and David Tennant (Doctor Who) as Dangerous Beans.
We have been given two merchandise packs of The Amazing Maurice to give away to two lucky readers which include a backpack, pen, notebook and cap. You could be a winner if you correctly answer this question: who wrote the screenplay? Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 10 April 2023. Names of the winners will be published in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 11 April 2023.
The Amazing Maurice is released to DVD and Digital on 5 April
