Wallace & Gromit - La maledizione del coniglio mannaro

The film starts with a very funny short featuring the Madagascar penguins. Curse of the Were Rabbit isn't as good as the three classic shorts, and the recent Matter of Loaf and Death, but the visual jokes and the memorable characters delight. I particularly loved the one about stinking cheese, and when Victor Quartermine puts the rabbit on his head by mistake. The plot is inspired, about a were rabbit who eats all the vegetables, and Wallace and Gromit try to stop him. The voice talents are superb, with Peter Sallis a standout with his vocal characterisation of Wallace, as does Ralph Fiennes as Victor. Helena Bonham Carter also does well, but the highlight was Gromit, with his facial expressions. The script sparkled with wit, imagination and inspiration, and the ending had some poignancy. Technically, the film is faultless with superb claymation. Overall, I award Curse of the Were Rabbit 8/10. Bethany Cox

'Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' is one of the funniest and most delightful films of all time. I've always loved Aardman's claymation and their movies. I adore Nick Park's previous short movies of Wallace and Gromit. Gromit is definitely one of my favourite movie characters. Coming back to this movie, the story definitely follows the horror movie trend and pays homage to movies like 'King Kong' and 'Jaws' (just to name a few). The quirkiness and humour is superbly in tune. It has a very British humour. The characters are strong and hilarious.

The colourful set designs, props and claymation are remarkable detailed. The music brings an overall energetic feel. The cinematography is great. The voice casting that includes Peter Sallis, Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes is excellent.

This is Aardman's first feature film in 5 years since the hilarious and adventurous 'Chicken Run' so perhaps one will have to wait 5 more years before the next movie (as the making does take a considerable amount of time). It has been longer since Wallace and Gromit appeared on screen and it was just awesome to see them back with a new mission. Wallace being the inventer and Gromit as his loyal friend and support, these two form a fabulous duo and I believe any new adventure with them would be worth the wait.

I saw it at a German press screening. Without giving too much away: Most critics really seemed to like it very much. There was even applause afterwards, which is quite unusual for that species. From my point of view and until now, it was the funniest movie of the year. It keeps the charm and wit of the three W+G shorts and it is enlarged with many references to these and other movies. Of course, there are obvious allusions to monster- and werewolf-movies, especially to "An American Werewolf in London", "Jaws", "King Kong" and even to Peter Jackson's "Braindead"/"Dead Alive", but also to other genres.

Characterization was better done in "Chicken Run", but that movie had a complete new "cast" where introduction was necessary. Here, you are already able to know the two main characters. So, the new "Wallace and Gromit"-movie is enjoyed best if you watched (and liked) the shorts already, yet it also works on its own. "Chicken Run" had the more convenient, but also more "storytelling" plot. Instead, this new Aardman masterpiece keeps that crazier and somehow more "isolated" feeling of the W+G shorts. Children should also enjoy it very much, especially because of the sweet rabbits (if you love cute bunnies, this is a must-see for you!!!) and because Gromit has a lot do to and really steals the show (children also love dogs... :-) ). But many jokes are thought for a more adult audience (there are even soft sexual allusions in it). The movie manages, like "Shrek 1+2" and "The Incredibles", to fulfil high level entertainment for the whole family, with adding a British and at least a little bit darker edge to the humour of American animated movies.

The animation is – as expected – superb, and they kept true to the Aardman style because they didn't put in too many digital effects - I realized just a few when it came to Wallace's inventions.

Finally, the score works fine in the movie, although one of the main themes definitely is "borrowed" by Randy Edelman's "Dragonheart" score.

The bad thing is: It will probably take another six years from now until we can see a new animated gem from Nick Park & Co.

A very enjoyable film. You can see there's much more subtlety in the characters with regard to facial expressions. The voice actors did a great job, and there are some great gags, some of which are not for children, but are not overt in their adult-ness. Much more empathy for the characters in this film than in Chicken Run. Fortunately, the film is still wonderfully British, so has not suffered from Dreamworks' influence on the production. It is also good to see something hand-crafted on the big screen instead of the raft of CG animated films that usually lack a strength of script; that you could see fingerprints in the plasticine in no way detracted from the quality of the production.

Wallace & Gromit have been around for some time, but this was their first foray onto the silver screen. Fans of the British TV series, like myself, were eager to see them and the film did quite well in the theaters. Much of the reason is that the film is fun and quite original. In a world of CG movies like SHREK and TOY STORY, this stop-motion film is a nice alternative to the trend in children's movies as well as being totally unlike a cartoon. Plus, compared to much earlier stop-motion films (such as KING KONG and the Ray Harryhausen films such as SINBAD), the quality and movement of the characters are light years better--looking very fluid, natural and more alive.

Apart from the quality of the animation, this movie also deserves kudos on every other level. First, the voice actors do a great job. Second, the script is very simple but also very cute and enjoyable--with a few double-entendres that should probably go way over the kids' heads. Third, they manage to make this not only a movie for kids but people of all ages as the film is neither saccharine nor aimed solely at the younger crowd. In particular, I was captivated by incredibly cute the film was--and especially the adorable bunnies. I especially liked them in the closing credits--which made me very happy I stayed to watch the entire film.

The bottom line is that unless you are a real stick-in-the-mud, you will enjoy this film. It's fresh, funny and amazingly clever. I hope we see a sequel--and this is saying something, as I usually hate sequels.