Shaun le mouton, le film

I considered Aardmans last stop motion effort 'Pirates - in an adventures with scientists' to be a bit of a let down when it was released three years ago and wondered if they had gone off the boil a little bit by trying to appeal to the mass market and thus diluting their witty humour as a result. However after 80 odd minutes of Shaun the Sheep I am happy to report that they are back on track.

Shaun is extremely well animated and manages to keep the story ticking along and funny enough to keep your interest without really feeling stretched. Considering as the film has no real dialogue to speak of that is no mean feat, and is reliant on top notch production design, expressive animation and a script that is entertaining and funny without being overly ridiculous. Whilst the Shaun the Sheep/Timmy Time TV shorts are aimed at young viewers, there is a decent amount of underlying humour here that adults will also engage with and thus it doesn't insult your intelligence the way some films do.

After Aardmans infamous falling out with DreamWorks (who wanted them to Americanize Wallace & Gromit) I did wonder if Aardman had sold out for the mass market after feeling the Sony Pictures distributed Pirates had a whiff of compromise to it, and that's partly why I felt Pirates fell a bit flat. However Aardman have teamed up with an independent European distributor for Shaun and as a result it seems they were allowed to make the film they wanted to make this time round. In effect I was not disappointed with Shaun, the simple but hilarious premise of the TV show is expanded successfully to the big screen with no noticeable compromises for the mass market. That the film is also dialogue free should make it an easy sell abroad too and I'm glad to see the film has been well received.

So well done to Aardman for making one of 2015's most enjoyable, entertaining and amusing films so far.

I am a grown male and got the timings wrong to see The Interview and could not be bothered to wait for the next screening so I selected the next film starting.

I have never seen the series, so cant judge if this is a good or bad adaptation all I can say this is a truly funny film though aimed at children is funny enough to keep me entertained.

The animation is uniformly excellent and honestly kept me guessing from the start to the end whether it was CGI or stop motion, I am still not sure even after reading all the credits. Maybe I didn't read them properly because the theme tune is very catchy and bounces round the head even now.

The story is easy to follow, the characters are likable and there is no trite wince inducing dialogue, everything is mumbled by the humans and the sheep communicate in a variations of bahs. There are some cracking running gags and a smattering of fart jokes. The sheep in disguise have to be seen to believed and the viewer would be surprised what goes on with a horse.

The closing credits though long are a fun roll with a funny bit at the end.

Watch it. I bet The Interview wont be as much fun.

13 February 2015 Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester This Aftenoon - Shaun The Sheep. I would just like to point out that I was the only adult there without a child.....or maybe I was the only child without an adult!!!!!! Nick Park and his team have done it again. This was classic Aardman animation, with our old pal Shaun. Bored with his mundane life Shaun and his sheepy friends engineer a way to have a day off but all goes drastically wrong when the farmer ends up in the big city with memory loss. It's up to the animals to save him and what follows is a madcap series of events where nobody questions sheep dressed as humans or any of the antics that occur. Completely without dialogue the story is carried along by the excellent score and gesticulations and a gaggle of bleats, grunts and other indiscriminate noises. As we know animation these days caters for all ages and with various movie references included the adults were definitely laughing at different times to the children. Watching some good old stop motion animation is a very pleasant way to pass the time.

This was, for me anyway, the usual Saturday afternoon flick with my partner and son to pass an hour or two.

To be honest could have been any movie.

The movie started sedately enough but gathered pace and complexity with every minute ,throughout the audience was laughing out loud , adults and children alike (including me).

It had everything for kids and adults, some rude jokes, great references to adult movies. A multi-layered villain, heroes and comedic characters.

The animation was stunning but i stopped looking at the animation and got hooked on the story and characters, maybe that's the way it should be.

Definitely worth a hour or so of anybody's time.

Excuse the pun in the title, i had to do it because this latest Aardman outing isn't a baaad film at all (sorry :P).

I am a huge fan of stop-motion, the way these types of films are animated fascinate me. I grew up loving Wallace and Gromit and I always loved the character of Shaun The Sheep so I was looking forward to this in some ways, although I wasn't sure the character could carry a film by himself but not to worry because he really can!

This type of film has been seen a lot, a group of characters end up in a situation that isn't within their comfort zone, in this case from farm to city. It isn't an original plot sure but it is handled so well that i was entertained throughout. The start was beginning to be a little slow, but started off so well that by the time it started to drag and feel slow something else happened which made the film entertaining again. From the moment the farmer ends up in the big city the jokes fly at you and these are as much for adults than they are for kids. I found myself laughing waaay more than i expected. Very simple jokes and laughs, but in a way that worked almost flawlessly. And this was all handled with no dialogue whatsoever, only the occasional baa or mumble from the human characters.

I highly recommend this to anybody who is looking for a film that will entertain the whole family and if you are planning on seeing Fifty Shades of Grey over this then don't.. you will be wasting your time. At 85 minutes this is the perfect length to keep young ones entertained and also before any of the jokes got stale or before interest is lost. A very simple and very English feeling film that left me feeling great. I hope to see more stop-motion animated films because I am a huge fan of these and this one looks absolutely beautiful. I hope this gets a nomination for best animated picture just for the style because i would back it up all the way. You will not regret seeing this one i promise