Josh Reviews Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl!

I am a long-time fan of Wallace and Gromit, the delightful stop-motion animated duo created by Nick Park (and produced by Aardman Animations).  And so the news of a new Wallace and Gromit adventure is always a cause for celebration by me.  I’d have been happy with a new short, but the announcement that we’d be getting a second full-length Wallace and Gromit movie was a wonderful surprise!!  (It’s been a long wait!  The first Wallace and Gromit movie, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released back in 2005 — that’s two decades ago!! — and the most recent short, A Matter of Loaf and Death, came out in 2008.)

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is a sequel to the second (and, arguably, the very best) Wallace and Gromit adventure: The Wrong Trousers.  In that short, a villainous penguin named Feathers McGraw takes up residence in Wallace’s spare room and mis-uses Wallace’s invention of mechanical trousers to aid in the theft of an enormous diamond.  Vengeance Most Fowl picks up with Feathers still imprisoned in the zoo (angrily doing pull-ups, in a wonderful Cape Fear joke) and plotting his revenge.  He gets his chance with Wallace’s latest invention: a mechanical gnome designed to take care of his and his neighbors’ gardening needs.  When Feathers corrupts the gnome to evil — at which point it builds a score of evil gnome duplicates — this horde of evil robots begins to wreak havoc on the neighborhood.  Can Wallace and Gromit (let’s face it, mostly Gromit) find a way to save the day?

Vengeance Most Fowl was a delight.  Despite the many years since the previous Wallace and Gromit adventure, it feels like not a day has passed.  Nick Park and his talented team — this film was written by Mark Burton, from a story by Mr. Burton and Mr. Park, and directed by Mr. Park and Merlin Crossingham — have perfectly recaptured the tone and feel of these characters and their world.  They all look and sound perfect, and the tone is just right: it’s a fun, silly adventure, brought to life with beautiful stop-motion animation.

Ever since The Wrong Trousers, which was released back in 1993, I have always been bowled over by the incredible animation that has brought these Wallace and Gromit adventures to life.  There’s a delightfully hand-made feel to the characters and the sets, while at the same time, these stories are packed full of elaborate gags and moments that have me smiling and wondering just how the heck they pulled that off.  This new film is no exception.  Whether it’s jam flying through the air (propelled by one of Wallace’s inventions, on its way towards his morning toast) or the deliriously fun action in the film’s third act, I was continually bowled over by the creativity and skill on display in the animation.  And the levels of world-building found in all the costumes, props, and sets is incredible.  On a second viewing I look forward to occasionally pausing the image to bask in all the details worked into the frame.

The decision to bring back feathers McGraw was a great one.  He’s the series’ best villain!  This duck disguised as a chicken is a wonderfully evil nemesis for our heroes.  (The shot of Feathers sitting in a Blofeld-like chair and stroking a white seal in his lap was a highlight of the film for me.)  And those evil gnomes were fantastic!!  So fun!!  (My only complaint was that The Simpsons had so famously already done the “someone switched this doll to evil!” gag many decades ago, in one of the earliest Treehouse of Horror Halloween episodes.  I wish they’d found a different joke for the corruption of the gnomes here.  Oh well!)

I think Vengeance Most Fowl will appeal to anyone, young and old.  I also think you could easily watch and enjoy it without having seen The Wrong Trousers first.  (Though why would you??  If you haven’t yet seen The Wrong Trousers, don’t rob yourself of the enjoyment!  Watch that one first, and then check out this film.)  Vengeance Most Fowl is on Netflix.