In the world of animation, most know names like Walt Disney, DreamWorks, Illumination, and Studio Ghibli. Either in hand-drawn or CG animation, they have created stories that move audiences by stirring their emotion. But there’re also studios like LAIKA and Aardman who push animation through stop-motion techniques, creating a bridge between the stories that only exist within our imagination and the real world. Over the years, Aardman has been responsible for a variety of stories through beloved characters Wallace, Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, and others and now, via Netflix, return to invite audiences on another adventure of comedic delights involving devilish plots in their latest feature Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, slated for released on Netflix January 3rd, 2025. While the narrative is fairly predictable in its intercharacter turmoil and resolution, one cannot deny the artistry on display throughout.
L-R: Wallace, Norbot voiced by Reece Shearsmith, and Wallace voiced by Ben Whitehead in WALLCE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL. Photo Cr. Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
Inventor Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead) and best pal Gromit are in a bit of hot water as the bills keep piling up as Wallace spends more time inventing than figuring out ways to cover their lifestyle. Things shift for the duo when Wallace successfully creates a helpful robot gnome he calls Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith). The service bot is quickly embraced by the locals, enabling Wallace to resolve his financial squabbles quickly and earn a little notoriety. It catches the attention of new customers as well as that of notorious thief Feathers McGraw, who’s still in prison from when Wallace and Gromit prevented his theft of a valuable blue diamond years ago. Gromit thinks that his only problem is the annoying service bot who keeps ruining his garden and disrupting his routine, but it’s about to get a lot worse.
Feathers McGraw in WALLCE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL. Photo Cr. Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
While it would be easy to describe Vengeance as a long-gestating sequel, a description that might put off those without the historical knowledge to follow the plot, new audiences can easily jump into the story without having seen the ‘93 short. The opening of the film easily introduces the characters, their relationships, and their relative motivations whether it’s Wallace’s narrow focus on invention-building, Gromit’s festering frustration for his friend’s disregard for simplicity over technological advancement, Feathers’s capture and vendetta, and, of course, the two cops who will investigate the nuisances that arise throughout the narrative’s comedic ups and downs. So, if there’s any concern as to whether you need encyclopedic knowledge of Wallace & Gromit in order to enjoy yourself, there’s no cause for alarm, all is well.
L-R: Wallace and Wallace voiced by Ben Whitehead in WALLCE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL. Photo Cr. Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
The biggest issue with the film is that it’s incredibly simple. This is, as far as this reviewer’s limited experience with Aardman projects, par for the course and part of the DNA of their projects. The characters are silly and even the menace from Feathers is delivered in such a way as to earn honest guffaws, but one can see the turns coming well-before they happen. With a script from Mark Burton (Madagascar), based on a story from Nick Park (Chicken Run) and Burton, the conflicts are three-fold in order to create overlapping moments of ridiculousness: Wallace and Gromit, Feathers, and the police. For Wallace and Gromit, this means pitting them against one another (mostly Gromit growing resentful of Wallace’s obtuseness) so that when Feathers gets involved, the duo are on different tracks of thought and are unable to work together until it’s nearly too late. Likewise, the police are positioned as both exceptional at their jobs and also a little bit not (think Dogberry in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing). The jokes in between are charming, a mix of physical and situational comedy that’s neither particularly challenging nor offensive. Additionally, with the view of it being a family film, there’s nothing dangerous or truly challenging in the film, not in the ways other 2024 animated releases The Wild Robot, Orion and the Dark, or Transfomers One contain scenes of disquiet, which does make Vengeance certainly more safe but it means that it lacks a certain amount of teeth, as well. The film is entirely cute and fun with great charm, but the ideas within it are fascinatingly large but are never examined in favor of remaining as comfortable as possible.
Feathers McGraw in WALLCE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL. Photo Cr. Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
To be precise, there’s a fascinating throughline regarding the view of technology in the film. By Wallace’s view, using advanced technology is better than older technology, even if it means more trouble and time. Having someone (Gromit) press a series of buttons so that Wallace doesn’t have to do anything to get out of bed (1), remove his pajamas (2), bathe himself (3), put on new clothes (4), and prep his own toast once seated at the table (5) certainly appears novel in a Pee-Wee Herman-esque sort of way, but, when one gives it any kind of thought, all Wallace has done is transferred the work to Gromit, while adding a series of additional weak points to the system of getting ready for the day (which, yes, does come into play later). With the addition of Norbot, the concept that Wallace views advanced technology over the more mundane prior-existing tech solidifies, especially when the service bot’s view of helping is to do what Wallace has programmed it to think of as helpful and not what Gromit does (another example of Wallace’s views superseding individual consideration). The meat of their conflict, which simultaneously creates the necessary opening for Feathers to re-enter the fray, is a fascinating battle between ideology of advancement versus contentment. There’s absolutely a place for new technology to replace old, much in the way a Keurig is a fantastic replacement so as not to have to boil water with a pot for a single cup of tea (we’re not coffee drinkers), but that doesn’t mean that there’s no use for a tea kettle where different brews require it. Throughout the script, Wallace continues to push things without regard for how it impacts Gromit, which, in turn, creates the perfect circumstance for Feathers to divide and conquer in his quest for revenge. Though the narrative ultimately ends in an expected middle ground, there’s fascinating material here for excavation, demonstrating that Vengeance holds the capacity for more than it demonstrates.
L-R: Wallace and Wallace voiced by Ben Whitehead in WALLCE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL. Photo Cr. Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
What’s not up for debate, no matter how one feels about the narrative, is the beauty of the animation. Yes, there’s something transcendent about the way The Wild Robot’s Roz transforms from a hard digital design to a more natural-looking form in order to convey the character arc from rigid automaton to individualized caretaker and member of the local fauna. Not to disparage other animated films, but stop-motion is an entirely different discipline all together and everything the audience sees in Vengeance is demonstrative of hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of work as the crew painstakingly work to create 127 seconds of animation *each week* of the film’s shoot. This is a fully-realized world that audiences enter, characters have shape, dimension, and weight. Even something as simple as a sea lion looks so adorable that we all turn into Agnes from Despicable Me (2010) in a single instant. Special credit, however, belongs to the team of animators who bring Feathers to life. With as little as figure positioning and camera angle, the animators are able to convey the menace and disquiet of any good villain in one scene and, with small adjustments, instill Feathers with great charm and charisma. There’s such craft on display that, even when one might lose interest in the narrative, one never stops finding something on-screen to explore.
Senior Animator Andy Symanowski working on a scene in WALLCE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL. Photo Cr. Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
Aardman has a well-established reputation for producing fine works and the biggest tragedy that faces them isn’t a disinterest in their work, but how much clay remains available to them to continue making films in their preferred manner. Much in the way LAIKA has their own signature visual flair with their puppetry, so too does Aardman with their clay, having delighted families around the world with their creations. The point, if you’ll allow, is that Vengeance Most Fowl is going to delight those fans, reminding them exactly why Wallace and Gromit have become such comforting characters over the years, so whether or not the film speaks to you or surprises you is irrelevant. What matters is whether or not Aardman is able to make more stories after this. One can only hope that either more is produced or a proper replacement is found so that Aardman can keep telling stories.
In select theaters December 18th, 2024.
Available on Netflix January 3rd, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Netflix Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl webpage.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
Share this:
Categories: In Theaters, Reviews, streaming
Leave a Reply