Story
Maurice (voice of Hugh Laurie) is a street-smart cat. Maurice and his human friend, Keith (voice of Himesh Patel), together with their band of talking rats, convince the townsfolk that their town has a rat problem. They’re then paid to remove the rats, which Keith does by playing his pipe while the rats follow him out. That’s the story according to Malicia (voice of Emilia Clarke) the Narrator. But when Malicia decides to enter the story herself, things get more complicated.
Maurice, Keith, Malicia and the rats come across a town where all the rats have disappeared, and the food has all been stolen. It transpires that the rat king is luring rats to make his powers stronger. He uses henchmen to steal all of the food.
Malicia loves a good adventure. She sets out to solve the mystery, dragging the reluctant Keith and the cowardly Maurice along with her.
The trio faces many perils, as do the rats themselves. In the end, it’s Maurice who saves the day.
Themes
Fantasy; fairy stories; adventure; animals in peril
Violence
The Amazing Maurice has some slapstick violence, which is presented as funny. For example:
- Characters trip over.
- A rat pulls a clockwork rat by the tail.
- Keith falls through a trapdoor and lands on his head.
- The henchmen hit each other and fall down a trapdoor.
- Keith walks into a tree in the woods, and a branch pokes his eye.
There’s also other violence. For example:
- There’s an explosion in a barn. Smoke comes out of the roof, and a man falls out of a window.
- The henchmen attack the rats and Maurice with sticks. Maurice attacks the men back, clawing at their faces.
- Malicia and Keith poison the henchmen with ‘kill a lot’ rat poison, although it turns out to be a laxative instead.
- There’s a pit in which dogs chase rats and kill them. One of Maurice’s rats is thrown into the pit and fights with a vicious dog. The fight is shown in slow motion. The rat throws darts at the dog. The dog lands on his head. A fight breaks out among the spectators. The other rats the drop a heavy object on the dog, knocking him out.
- The rat king squeezes a rat in his hand. Maurice attacks him and is sent flying, landing heavily on the ground.
- The Pied Piper knocks out Keith. Malicia threatens him. He gets kicked into the oven and jumps out with his pants on fire.
- The rat king picks up Keith and Malicia and throws them both a long way.
- The rat king starts to disintegrate. A huge sonic boom occurs, freezing all the characters. One of the rats, Dangerous Beans, appears dead. Maurice gets very angry. A green energy comes out of his paws, and he attacks the rat king.
Sexual references
The Amazing Maurice has some sexual references. For example, Keith says that he thinks he loves Malicia, and they kiss.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
The Amazing Maurice shows the use of poison.
Nudity and sexual activity
There’s no nudity and sexual activity in The Amazing Maurice.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in The Amazing Maurice.
Coarse language
The Amazing Maurice some name-calling and insults, including ‘useless’ and ‘stupid’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Based on the book by Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice is an animated fantasy with a fast-moving adventure plot. The story is quite complex and dark in places, so the movie isn’t suitable for children under 6 years. We also recommend parental guidance children aged 6-7 years.
The main messages from The Amazing Maurice are to make your own story and find your own abilities.
Values in The Amazing Maurice that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, loyalty, responsibility, selflessness, courage and bravery.
The Amazing Maurice could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like cheating. Maurice and Keith con people out of their money, but Maurice admits to being a cheat. He also changes during the story, offering one of his lives in exchange for Dangerous Beans’ life. You could talk with your children about owning up to your mistakes and trying to do better.