Sundance review: 'The Amazing Maurice,' adapting Terry Pratchett's children's story, is a funny attempt at a fractured fairytale

Loaded with clever animation and droll British wit, the animated “The Amazing Maurice” is a charming sendup of the fairytale genre that revels in the act of storytelling itself.

Adapted from the late Terry Pratchett’s “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents,” part of Pratchett’s expansive “Discworld” series, the story starts with a talking cat, Maurice (voiced by Hugh Laurie). 

Maurice works a clever scam alongside a human, Keith (voiced by Himesh Patel), and a group of talking rats — where the rats “infest” a town, the cat urges the townsfolk to hire a piper, Keith, who lures the rats away while Maurice collects the money. Then they go to the next town and do the whole thing again.

The scam works until they reach the market town of Bad Blintz, which already has its problems: There are no rats visible, but something is stealing all the food. The town rat catchers seem to be doing too good a job, under the command of the mysterious Boss Man (voiced by David Thewlis), who has a dark secret up his sleeves.

It also doesn’t help that Maurice’s cover is blown when he’s found out by Malicia (voiced by Emilia Clarke), the daughter of the mayor (voiced by Hugh Bonneville). Malicia loves telling stories so much that she’s telling this one — she’s the narrator, and explains to the younger viewers such concepts as “framing device” and “backstory.” 

The plot boils down to whether the rats can solve the mystery and thwart Boss Man’s nefarious, and whether Maurice can overcome his cat instincts — to be selfish and run away from danger — to help his rat friends find their sanctuary, described by the wise rat called Dangerous Beans (voiced by David Tennant) as a place where animals and humans co-exist peacefully, without poisons or traps.

Directors Toby Genkel and Florian Westermann keep the pace lively, and mount some clever action set pieces that are exciting without being too violent. The screenplay, by “Shrek” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” co-writer Terry Rossio, captures a lot of Pratchett’s dry humor as the story deconstructs its tropes and rebuilds them in interesting ways — and gives “The Amazing Maurice” more bite than the average kids’ movie.

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‘The Amazing Maurice’

★★★

Playing in the Kids section of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Opens in theaters on Friday, February 3, 2023. Rated PG for action/peril and some rude material. Running time: 92 minutes.