Wallace et Gromit: La Palme de la vengeance

What a call from the BBC, an evening showing of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl debuting to the local masses. Of course it excels at everything it attempted to. From a technical and just genuine enjoyment perspective its great.

Firstly, Aardman have managed to retain their exceptional status as he greatest stop motion producers we have seen in film. Challenges have been faced across the company by being lack of clay and so much more but again they provide. A spectacular 78 minutes of pure joy and love soaked into the most beloved British film franchise of all time, as they still achieve a 100% record for Wallace & Gromit. But how?

Now a foolish claim would be that these films are made for children, but it's simple to shut down masterful entertainment retaining the witty humour from previous entries keeping the established narrative contracts of both Wallace, the man trying to keep up with the times but runs to fast. And Gromit, less of a myopic take on situations. The dichotomy built between them is magnificent and in the closing sequence as it bridges through the sheer power of friendship and love brought a tear to my eye. Character development isn't everything but the sheer attachment you can have for this duo speaks for itself. Of course you can't speak about characters without mentioning Feathers. The foil. The comic relief. The sly penguin. Back to his best swiftly establishing himself amongst the great villains of cinema, his body language forged in the clay work sustains this construct, even minor head tilts or arm movements encapsulates so much fun and depth into a character who hasn't even opened his beak once, a true icon.

The filmmakers aren't subtle with there hidden allegories specifically the anti-AI message referenced in the films. The "norbots" evident microcosm of this, as clearly a flicker of there code creates potential travesty's if put into the wrong hands, emblematic of real world danger as pressure mounts amongst, ai. Hidden allegorical messages blanketed amongst a vastly entertaining feature, refreshing in the animation genre of film, and yet another top tier entry into what is rapidly becoming one of my favorite franchises in film.

Wallace & Gromit are back... and so is Feathers McGraw. That's probably enough for any viewer. Many might wonder is this going to be as good as The Wrong Trousers. The answer is no, but it's not far off and really only falls short because it's a sequel. It's near impossible to capture the magic of anything as much loved as The Wrong Trousers, even though that was a sequel of sorts. The pairs house has had some upgrades. Wallace's new wake up routine is genius. Not that long suffering Gromit is impressed. He's happy with the simple life. The Pat-o-Matic for instance isn't to his taste. He'd much rather have a nice pat on the head from Wallace. Wallace's latest invention though is for Gromit, to help him in the garden. A smart gnome called Norbot, who instead of helping, ruins Gromit's garden, invading his only sanctuary. The neighbours though are impressed and this kicks off Wallaces scheme to solve their money troubles, Gnome Improvements. What about the penguin you may ask? Well he's doing time at the zoo, but upon hearing of his foe's latest invention. He finds a way to hack Norbot, change his settings to 'Evil' and have him create an army of evil gnome clones. They first terrorise the neighbourhood, besmirch Wallace's good name, help Feathers break out of the zoo and steal the blue diamond that alludes him in The Wring Trousers. The details are delightful. The animation is beautiful. The story first class and the action both gripping and wonderfully cinematic. So no it's not as jaw dropping and perfect as The Wrong Trousers, but it doesn't need to be. It's just as much fun and it's a joy to have a new adventure to enjoy over and over again.

I liked it, but I can't say I loved the film. It's an enjoyable experience that entertains from start to finish. The story offers an interesting take on how technology, while essential and helpful in our lives, should never completely replace humans, showing that we can all coexist without one thing overshadowing the other. On top of that, the pacing is well done, with no boring or dragged-out moments, and the runtime feels just right.

The characters remain charming and carry the subtle humor that defines the series, but I have to admit that Wallace's personality irritated me at times. His stubbornness and naivety, which are usually endearing, became a bit frustrating, especially when he completely ignores Gromit's warnings and due to his lazy and complacent attitude. Still, the dynamic between them works well and keeps the charm they are known for.

The biggest highlight, as always, is the amazing stop-motion animation. It's fascinating to see the level of detail and dedication put into the sets and character movements. There were moments when I found myself admiring the painstaking effort behind every little motion and expression, imagining the time and hard work the team must have put in to achieve such perfection.

Overall, I didn't find it amazing or unforgettable, but it's a solid production that does its job well. I'm sure both kids and adults will enjoy it, whether for the nostalgia, the animation, or the clever humor that, even if not always laugh-out-loud funny, keeps a constant smile on the viewer's face.

Wallace seems to have nailed it, having created, the Nifty odd jobbing robot, Norbot, the problems begin when Feathers McGraw breaks out of prison, and the happy go lucky robot turns rogue.

Glorious, magical viewing from start to finish, with this and Gavin and Stacey, it seems like The BBC will own Christmas day viewing.

Bags of fun, massively entertaining, full of gags and jokes, truly a show for the whole family to watch and love. With any luck we'll be treated to more in the future.

You have to give huge credit to Ben Whitehead, I honestly had to check that AI wasn't used to recreate the voice of Peter Sallis, it was seamless, what an incredible vocal performance.

Credit to Peter Kay and Reece Shearsmith, both, along with the whole cast, did a spectacular job.

I loved it so much, I've ordered myself a Feathers McGraw t-shirt.

10/10.

A great movie, after a very long wait. These characters have the same charm and comedy brilliance as the all time greats. Gromit, although animation, has the same dead-pan timing as Stan Laurel and to achieve that in animation is brilliance.

The key to W&G is that they never stray far from their roots and this was their best long form outing so far, the plot has so many nods to movies and a level of brilliant comedic detail in the design and smaller props. Always read the book covers and look around to see these wonderful details.

I might be alone but I noticed quite a few nods to Tim Burton's 'Batman Returns' especially in a moment with a submarine and a rubber duck!

This was a great return to form after the split with DREAMWORKS and it seems that the producing team did a cracking job on keeping it real.

A note to say although Peter Sallis will always be much missed the vocal performance by Ben Whitehead is pitch perfect and a flawless interpretation.

I'd love to see the studio revisit Pirates and of course give us a few more W & G adventures in the years to come.