The darn near perfect Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is an energetic and ecstatic return to form for one of cinema’s all time greatest tandem acts. A direct sequel to one of Aardman Animation’s most endearing and enduring creations, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl never compromises or coasts along on the strength of past successes. A visual and comedic delight from start to finish, this one should please the fans who’ve followed Aardman for decades, while bringing a new generation of admirers into the fold.
Absent minded inventor Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead, taking over for the late Peter Sallis in the role) has been working prolifically on his complicated gadgets and doo-dads, much to the consternation of his loyal, but usually perplexed pooch Gromit, who prefers the simpler things in life. But much to Gromit’s consternation, Wallace has invented something that could solve all of the duo’s financial woes for good. The relentlessly peppy, single-minded helper robot Norbot (Reece Shearsmith) can accomplish a full garden or home renovation within seconds, making Wallace’s new creation highly sough after and pushing Gromit further into the margins of his master’s life. But Norbot’s creation also provides ample opportunity for criminal exploitation by the nefarious, silent, chicken impersonating Feathers McGraw, the larcenous penguin that the duo helped put behind bars (at a zoo) for an attempted diamond theft.
This follow-up to Aardman’s landmark, Oscar winning 1993 short The Wrong Trousers stays true to the duo’s penchant for stop-motion animated set pieces, sight gags, and highly elaborate action sequences that pay reverence to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Bouncing back strongly and confidently after last year’s mediocre return to the Chicken Run franchise, veteran Aardman animators Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham have crafted a lovingly madcap caper story that sticks to the characters’, writers’, and craftspeoples’ greatest strengths. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl packs a lot into eighty minutes, with the energy never flagging and the visuals constantly dazzling. Aardman has always shown immense love and respect for the hands-on art of stop animation, and this will go down as one of their greatest achievements (even if some purists will note that some CGI has crept its way into more recent works).
That hand crafted aesthetic meshes nicely with the story’s message about overly relying on technological shortcuts, modern conveniences, and artificial intelligence too much in daily life. The story is birthed from a simple, yet effective concept that’s best summed up in a classic Simpsons reference, but the execution of that gambit on such a grand scale is what sets Park and Crossingham’s approach apart. In addition to the expressiveness of the characters – two of whom have no dialogue and have to rely on their eyes to tell a lot of the story – the scale of the set pieces in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl are nothing short of astonishing. The visual stakes are raised with each scene, building to a climactic chase sequence that’s a work of comedic genius and simultaneously more exciting than most action movies out there.
Wallace and Gromit belong in the conversation of best comedic duos in cinematic and television history, as does the cunning Feathers for one of the most inspired villains. It has been far too long for these characters to receive such a grand return, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl doesn’t let viewers down for a second. It’s the best all out romp of the holiday season if you can make it out to a theatre that’s showing it prior to its streaming release. If you can’t, it’s the perfect homebound antidote to the winter blahs.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl opens in select theatres, including TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, Cinéma Guzzo Méga-Plex Sphèretech in Montreal, and VIFF Centre in Vancouver on Wednesday, December 18, 2024. It streams on Netflix starting Friday, January 3, 2025.
