If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Blistering performances.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Yes, flushed away is an overlooked treasure. High-class vermin, Roddy, is a beloved rat who has it all: Expensive food, a nice car, a big house,a master bed, gold, jewels, a big family and a lot of friends. Sadly, his family is a human who locks him in a cage, and his friends are all dolls. Roddy may seem happy, but he is secretly a sad, broken rat inside, and is desperately alone, yet he doesn't know what he needs in life. His neurotic existence is shattered to pieces when Sid, a plump, vulgar, sewer rat shows up, and crashes on his turf. Eager to rid his palace of the obese, crude perpetrator of pestilence, Roddy attempts to give Six a royal flush, but Sid is simple, not stupid, and turns the tables on Roddy, sending him down the toilet, instead. Thrust into an underground world, Roddy must swallow his pride, form an uneasy truce with junk-scavenging Rita, a pirate who scours the underworld to find enough treasure to scrape by. She begrudgingly agrees to help Roddy, for a hefty fee. Their quest is hindered by two gangsta rats, an insane, speciecist toad who harbours an intense hatred of all rodents and has a dark agenda to destroy the underworld, and a xenophobic frog from France. What it amounts to is an insanely funny, fast-paced adventure, that keeps you laughing all the way through. From the singing slugs, to various sight-gags, this movie entertains all ages, and has a BIG cast of funny characters. Being from aardman, the plot is erratic, but in a good way, as events and circumstances change, and it never follows a set path. I highly recommend it. It avoids clichés, and being formulaic, and fires obscene premises towards the viewers. This loud, dazzling, movie promises to entertain.

Roddy (Hugh Jackman) is a high class mouse living in the lap of luxury. When sewer rat Sid gets in, Roddy gets flushed down to the sewers. There he meets Rita (Kate Winslet) working her scavenger boat. They are harassed by the henchmen of the Toad. Through Roddy's bumbling, they find Rita, her boat, and the ruby that she was trying to hide.Aardman is trying a fully CGI feature film. It has the same feel and the same sensibility as their normal fare. If you like those, you'll like this one. The lead characters are likable, and the story has a lot of fun as long as you don't dwell on the fact that most of it takes place in the sewer.

This is a superb animated feature from the guys who brought us Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit. It features an all-star cast, is devilishly funny and can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages. However, it did not do very well at the box office. Why? Well, for a variety of reasons. The main one, in my opinion, is that it was killed by Happy Feet, which in no way lived up to its spectacular ad campaign. Funny how this movie is, in a way, just the opposite; it had a lousy ad campaign but is in reality a hilarious and remarkably entertaining movie.Despite an all-star British cast, this movie has the rather unappealing premise of a pampered pet rat who somehow contrives to be flushed down the toilet into an incredible world of sewer rats and their underground city. Now, at first this seems to be a premise that has gross-out comedy built directly into it. What the ad campaign regrettably failed to explain is that that premise only sets up the real one. The real premise sets up a cracking adventure story that features a gallery of hysterically funny characters and situations. What really amazes me about this film, however, is how constantly it entertains. There was not a single moment during this film in which I was not being totally entertained by its antics. Any movie that fills out its mission statement that effectively is worthy of recognition. However, this movie never got it, neither financially nor, to a certain extent, critically. Some might be kept away by the premise, or maybe the all-British cast, or maybe even because there are other films(like Happy Feet) they would rather see. Well, I am here telling you not to miss out.

Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromit, and Dreamworks computer animation, who created Shrek, bring the two together, might not be as charming as Claymation, but still fun. Basically Roddy St. James (Hugh Jackman) is the "society mouse" who lives in a posh Kesington flat. One day, a sewer rat named Sid (EastEnders' Shane Richie) comes up through the sink, and decides he's hit the jackpot, and after trying to fool him to go into the toilet and get flushed, it is Roddy that gets flushed instead. He has now found himself in the sewer city of Ratropolis, and to try and get back home, he meets scavenger rat Rita (Kate Winslet) who has the faithful boat, the Jammy Dodger. She is being is chased by Whitey (Bill Nighy) and Spike (The Lord of the Rings' Andy Serkis), who work for villain The Toad (Sir Ian McKellen). Originally they were chasing her for what turns out to be a non-valuable gem, but now she has his cable that controls his machine that opens the flood gates, and he plans to drown all during the World Cup match. Rita does manage to get Roddy home, after more chases, including with Le Frog (Jean Reno), but he realises The Toad's plan, and goes back to both save Rita and the rat city, oh, and in the end, he stays, while Sid stays above, and has a new feline friend. Also starring Kathy Burke as Rita's Mum, Poirot's David Suchet as Rita's Dad and Miriam Margolyes as Rita's Grandma. Filled with some good (if a little droll) British humour, most giggles coming from the singing slugs, it is a good film for all the family. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature Film, and it was nominated the National Movie Award for Best Animation. Good!