The feature-length follow-up to Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a beautifully animated comedy-adventure.
Plot: In this next installment, Gromit’s concern that Wallace is becoming too dependent on his inventions proves justified, when Wallace invents a “smart” gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. When it emerges that a vengeful figure from the past might be masterminding things, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master… or Wallace may never be able to invent again!
Review: Few words bring as much joy when paired together as Wallace & Gromit. Since they debuted in the 1989 short film A Grand Day Out, the cheese-loving duo have been the benchmark for claymation films and have inspired countless directors and animators. After three short films released through the mid-nineties, Aardman Animation’s signature creations were not seen until the 2005 feature film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. With an all-star cast including Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter, that film won the Oscar for Best Animated Film and was Wallace and Gromit’s last appearance until the 2008 short A Matter of Loaf and Death. Aardman has remained active with the spin-off series centered on Shaun the Sheep and the Chicken Run films, but fans have finally gotten a new adventure featuring Wallace and Gromit with Vengeance Most Fowl. A direct sequel to 1993’s The Wrong Trousers, Vengeance Most Fowl does not boast any big-name Hollywood voices but once again proves why Aardman knows how to make beautiful and hilarious films unlike anyone else.
Wallace & Gromit aficionados know that each of the films in the series opens with the always silent Gromit starting the day by triggering an unnecessarily complex invention made by Wallace, now voiced by Ben Whitehead, after the passing of Peter Sallis in 2017. While the prior films showed Wallace and Gromit running a business based on these inventions, this time, they are running low on cash as no one is interested in Wallace’s ideas. That is, until he comes up with a robotic garden gnome who can do virtually anything. Named Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), Wallace begins a new company using the diminutive android that does not involve Gromit. Seemingly left behind, Gromit watches as his best friend embarks on a new adventure with an invention that may be more trouble than meets the eye. The Wallace & Gromit films have always been good at emotional elements, especially when they involve the near-silent beagle whose expressive face speaks volumes.
While Vengeance Most Fowl could have centered on this quiet plot thread, the film also connects directly with the most dastardly foe in the franchise: Feathers McGraw. A silent character, Feathers is a menacing penguin who steals a precious diamond using Wallace’s robotic trousers. This time, the bird baddie has another idea to get his prize, which involves his old adversary and Norbot. As the two narratives connect, we also get a visit from The Curse of the Were-Rabbit character Chief Inspector Albert Mackintosh (Peter Kay), who is mentoring a young officer named PC Mukherjee (Lauren Patel). As the cops track down Feathers McGraw, everything comes together for a spectacular adventure that is classic Wallace & Gromit. The few new additions to the cast include Philomena Cunk actress Diane Morgan, voicing a reporter named Onya Doorstep. Still, the bulk of this film focuses on the title characters, the villainous penguin and the new robotic garden gnome.
Clocking in at just under eighty minutes, Vengeance Most Fowl is a fast-paced film packed with signature moments and a rousing final act full of action and complex sequences that are astounding for a claymation production. The stop-motion work done in this film is augmented by computer effects, which is something more noticeable in this film than in any of the Wallace & Gromit movies that came before it. The CGI is used to enhance the film rather than replace the clay figures, which are still painstakingly detailed and amazing to look at. While Aardman has explored the world of non-clay animation as seen in the films Flushed Away and Arthur Christmas, their focus on making the physically realized world of Wallace and Gromit has had challenges, including a fire that destroyed many props from the films as well as the closure of the clay supplier they have used since the 1980s. Nevertheless, Vengeance Most Fowl retains Aardman projects’ signature look, feel, and style.
Director Nick Park has long preferred the short film format for telling Wallace & Gromit stories, which is why it has been almost two decades since their last feature film. Partnering with director Merlin Crossingham, Park enlisted screenwriter Mark Burton, who co-wrote The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and other Aardman projects. Burton keeps the humor firmly and decidedly British, which has always been a hallmark of these cracking good characters. The brisk running time of this film is shorter than Were-Rabbit but still qualifies as a feature film. Having Netflix as a distribution partner also allows the film to benefit from a higher budget. The score from new composer Lorne Balfe echoes Julian Nott’s themes from the earlier movies while keeping it consistent within the series. None of the changes in the last decade have negatively impacted the characters, the story, or even the feel-good atmosphere. This film is a better sequel than the long-in-development Chicken Run follow-up that debuted on Netflix last year.
Any Wallace & Gromit is a welcome watch. Vengeance Most Fowl is a wonderful achievement that will be another contender for Best Animated Film at every awards show this year. While it does not have the same grandeur as The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which felt like a wholly distinct movie outing for the characters, Vengeance Most Fowl blends the quick pace of the Wallace & Gromit short films with a longer run time. A wonderful treat for all ages, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is another animated achievement from Aardman Animation that continues to prove that quality outweighs quantity each and every time. I would love for a new Wallace & Gromit adventure to appear year after year, but if I have to wait over a decade to get a movie this good, I am prepared to enjoy another round of tea and cheese with these two in another ten years.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl premieres on January 3rd on Netflix.
