The world’s most beloved cheese fanatic and his very literate pup are back to please the world on Netflix in Nick Park’s newest installment to the stop-motion animated spectacle of the Wallace & Gromit world: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. In Aardman Animation’s crafty world of British life and invention-based madness, we see the events unfold that Wallace and Gromit set into action thirty years ago in The Wrong Trousers. Feathers McGraw—amateur train conductor, professional chicken impersonator, and known criminal from the aforementioned film, is behind bars and wants his revenge on Wallace and Gromit for imprisoning him for stealing the Blue Diamond. More than that, he wants his diamond back. What follows is a heartwarming tale of the trust and love that a man and his dog have had and crafted over the last thirty-five years, as well as crazy gadgets, intense ferry chases, and a very worried dog, bringing satisfaction to long-time fans and thrills to people new to the series.
It’s hard to understate the quality and craft of this movie’s iconic claymated feast for the senses. Despite the first short film being crafted by a mere two-man team back in 1989, the series has time and time again shown its unique art style, being distinguishable by everything from the character’s teeth to their eye rolls. Every shot is filled with so much love, being meticulously crafted and detailed to the hopefully attentive viewer. Long-time fans of the series will enjoy subtle references to the previous films, while new watchers will be able to enjoy the absurd amount of unspoken jokes, from bizarre furniture, to ridiculous props and book titles that don’t seem quite right. No set is depthless, and no shot forgets to make you remember its craft. This is by far the cleanest potentially most pleasant the animation has ever been. Colors are bright and cheerful, and characters are rounded and shaped to perfection while still having those classic fingerprints marking the work of the animators. While the technology has evolved and been implemented to make the movie more digestible, the claymation is as jaw-dropping as ever.
Despite the undeniable flawlessness of the animation, the story is not terribly profound or well written. Character motivations are simple, and plot points are very predictable to the average viewer. But in this simplicity there is a kind of comfort to be found. You can very well still find humor and enjoyment in this film despite its appeal to childish wonder. Its plot may be straightforward, but its writing is not flawed by any means. On top of that, its comedy is tight and creative in both a subtle, slapstick, and, at times, even introspective. Wallace and Gromit are still lovable and goofy in the way they’ve always been.
Each of these stop-motion masterpieces is an arduous process that requires skill, time, and materials. It was a big scare to many fans of the series that this might be the last film in Wallace and Gromit’s story due to a halt on the manufacturing of the studio’s clay. But these fears were put to rest later when the studio claimed they still had the clay to make more. As stated, these films take a lot of time, and things change. In 2017, the iconic voice of Wallace that brought profound life and soul to the show died of natural causes. Luckily, Ben Whitehead stepped up and did a fantastic job replacing him in this movie, giving Wallace that soul he always had. But sadly a part of the series was lost forever. Given Nick Park’s age, it is not outlandish to say this is his last film. As such, this movie can be seen as the possible conclusion to Wallace and Gromit, at least from the mind of Nick Park. It ties the series up in a heartwarming and unsurprisingly comedic way while maintaining an open-ended possibility for new stories. Anyone that watches Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is sure to be excited for what Aardman Animations has planned next.
4/5 Stars