35 years have passed since Wallace, the affable human inventor, and Gromit, his silent but otherwise exceedingly human-like and exceptionally faithful canine companion, made their screen debut in the stop-motion animated short film A Grand Day Out. As the most iconic creations of director Nick Park, the duo has since starred in several more shorts, and even had a feature-length adventure released in 2008 with The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. But the crowning achievement in their collection will always be 1993’s The Wrong Trousers, which pits the beloved twosome against a conniving penguin and a pair of robotic slacks gone haywire. Now, three decades later, Park, alongside co-director Merlin Crossingham, is back with Vengeance Most Fowl, a continuation of sorts to The Wrong Trousers storyline and the second Wallace & Gromit feature film overall. Granted, it’s difficult to not have a knee-jerk reaction when it comes to belated sequels, particularly when they feel like cash grabs wallowing in nostalgia — this year alone saw the ill-advised releases of high-profile films like Twisters, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Gladiator II — but in this case, an exception is to be made, because history has proven that any Wallace & Gromit is good Wallace & Gromit, brimming with the requisite charm, humor, and innovation the franchise has come to be known for. It may not hit the impeccable highs of its predecessor, but Vengeance Most Fowl still makes for a pleasant excursion, a welcome catch-up with old friends.
Many years have passed since Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead, doing a commendable job of filling in for Peter Sallis, who passed away in 2017) and Gromit successfully thwarted Feathers McGraw from stealing the valuable blue diamond, earning a reputation as local heroes while the devious penguin was summarily incarcerated at the local zoo. Despite their brief moment of glory, hard times have fallen on the inventor and his pooch once again, leading Wallace to create Norbot, a “smart gnome” capable of immaculate housework and lawn care, soon becoming a hit business opportunity for Wallace while Gromit is cast to the sideline. Meanwhile, Feathers quietly stews in his prison, bent on escaping to get revenge and re-acquire the prized possession he once lost.
Park and Crossingham waste no time re-acclimating audiences to the world of Wallace and Gromit, whose cozy home remains a labyrinth of automated contraptions, facilitating morning bath, dress, and breakfast routines. It’s Norbot who becomes a spoiler in the pair’s relationship, finding Gromit dubious of the annoyingly chirpy android while Wallace is none the wiser. The addition of Norbot also grants Feathers his golden opportunity to escape, applying his own wiles of MacGuyver-esque ingenuity and computer hacking (one of the film’s best jokes finds Feathers faced with a CAPTCHA verification that asks to “select all images with cheese,” with one of them being an image of the moon, causing the bird to give pause and carefully make his selection). Eventually, an army of Norbot’s is amassed, freeing Feathers from his confinement and wreaking havoc on the town, necessitating the perpetually furrow-browed Gromit to step in and save the day. In its broad strokes, then, Vengeance Most Fowl can be viewed as a warning against unchecked artificial intelligence, which is an especially authentic perspective as this film boasts Aardman Animations’ typically excellent Claymation, where every painstaking dent, groove, and fingerprint is lovingly baked into the film’s DNA. No generative AI could make a film look even a fraction as good as this one does.
Like The Wrong Trousers, Vengeance Most Fowl builds to an action-packed finale, escalating from narrowboat chase to climactic showdown atop a speeding train, finding Gromit doing his best Ethan Hunt impression to stay a step ahead of Feathers. Wallace gets in on the fun as well, frantically inventing new gadgets on the fly to impede his adversary and the horde of smart gnomes. Clocking in at less than 80 minutes, Vengeance Most Fowl is a breeze to sit through, offering stunning stop-motion animation, great gags, and good company with a reliable pair of chums, even opening the door for a potential trilogy. We should all be so lucky.
DIRECTOR: Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham; CAST: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith; DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix; IN THEATERS: December 18; STREAMING: January 5; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 19 min.
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