'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl' Review: Aardman Delivers Another Smashing Wallace & Gromit Classic
That stop-motion studio across the pond, Aardman, has noticeably been in their “we need to get paid” era for quite some time now. They’ve been going down the barrel of IPs and crafting feature sequels involving their well-known characters against their most formidable foe for a second bout. Last year’s solid yet forgettable Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget saw the return of Mrs. Tweedy, who we all assumed was dead until that point. This year, their flagship series, Wallace & Gromit, returns to face a familiar flightless foe: Feathers McGraw. The gun-pointing, diamond-stealing, rubber-glove-on-head penguin from The Wrong Trousers is back in movie form. Although it might seem that Vengeance Most Fowl would hit the Aardman nostalgia trappings once more, thankfully, that isn't the case, as it's yet another delightful – no, CRACKING – Wallace & Gromit classic.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Netflix
PG: Some action and rude humor.
Runtime: 1 Hr and 19 Minutes
Production Companies: Aardman Animations
Distributors: Netflix
Directors: Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham
Writer: Mark Burton
Cast: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith
Release Date: January 3, 2025
Wallace (Ben Whitehead) is up to his old inventing habits again. This time, he creates a robot called The Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), a gnome equipped to help gardeners and also takes up Wallace’s attention, to Gromit’s dismay, jealousy, and annoyance. Meanwhile, feathered diamond-stealing penguin bandit Feathers McGraw is incarcerated at a zoo, doing community service. He hatches a plan for vengeance when he sees Wallace getting props on the telly. One could also refer to it as hacking, as he discovers a means to access Wallace's files via the zoo's computer by using a contraption and manipulating the gnomes to transform from good to evil. Once reprogrammed, the Norbots wreak havoc in the community as Wallace is framed for burglary. Now it’s up to Gromit to find the mastermind behind the scheme and clear Wallace’s name.
An old-fashioned adventure for the books, right Gromit?
We (that includes me) tend to underestimate Nick Park's creativity. Even though it’s been nearly 15 years since we last saw Wallace & Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death, it feels like they never left, and their dynamic is as strong as ever. Nick Park (co-director/co-story) and Mark Burton (co-story/screenwriter and Curse of the Were-Rabbit) refine their signature W&G formula of Wallace's new contraption enacting the caper/horror-inspired plot with a suspicious animal or human one or two degrees away from them acting as an antagonist.
As Gromit notices how tech-based their surroundings are, the film richly navigates the conversation about modernity through Wallace's AI gnomes. They’re the main source of conflict between the two, with mostly Gromit being fed up with the robotic gnomes while serving as a direct influence from Gremlins with Norbot as a Gizmo of sorts.
I don’t need to address how gorgeous the animation is. It’s Aardman. All their puppetry is remarkable, but man does this look more cinematic than most Aardman productions. It’s possibly the most epic in scope since The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Dave Alex Riddett, Aardman's in-house cinematographer, has been with the studio since Wrong Trousers, and the mood lighting in many scenes evokes cinematic atmospheres from David Fincher-esque crime thrillers to a classic Wes Craven movie. For example, a menacing shot involving the evil reprogrammed Gremlin-like gnomes staring at Gromit in the dark sent chills down my spine. It's impressive how the film can send a sinister image, and then have you guffawing over a visual gag. It's disheartening to learn this is getting a limited theatrical run stateside and then a streaming (Netflix and BBC) release.
McGraw is still that bad bird.
Since this is the first instance of W&G revisiting a defeated villain, the focus is on freshly recapturing his true killer nature. Park and his co-director Merlin Crossingham (Morph) could have easily fallen into nostalgia trappings when bringing Feathers McGraw back, but they actively don't.
The return of Feathers McGraw is another opportunity for Park and Crossingham to operate in peak silent comedy. I mean, nothing in this film measures up to McGraw pointing a gun at Gromit, but honestly, it doesn't need to. That black-pupiled penguin comes equipped with a new arsenal of jokes while still being as frightening, funny, and expressive as before. The Aardman team had a blast coming up with new ways to capture McGraw's timely diabolical energy. By the time Gromit and McGraw go face to face, it's exciting to see them have their little good vs. evil diva-off without either saying a word.
Perhaps the filmmakers were sitting on the idea of finally letting loose with McGraw's silent hilarity and sinister presence. Even when Park and Crossingham use famous movie characters like Blofeld from James Bond, they still find new ways to make them funny. These are the same people who dared make the umpteenth Hannibal Lecter joke in Shaun the Sheep Movie in 2015 and it still WORKED. Aardman's excellence!
Ben Whitehead Brings It
Ben Whitehead became Wallace’s successor in 2009, even before the original voice actor, the late Peter Sallis, retired. In the first major feature project since Sallis' passing, Ben Whitehead has cemented himself as Wallace. His voice acting conveys the essence of the character, from his bad puns to his love of cheese. But there's a moment in his performance that strikes the loving bond between Wallace and Gromit, with his voice breaking, and it’s the most emotionally vulnerable we've ever seen the character. It's delivered so sincerely as if the spirit of Sallis compelled him. He's that smashing.
I Couldn’t Care Less For Coppers, Chuck
To complete the caper plot, a subplot is introduced involving Chief Inspector Mackintosh (Peter Kay) and his deputy, Police Constable Mukherjee (Lauren Patel), as they attempt to determine the perpetrator behind the ongoing burglaries attributed to Wallace. They're mostly meant to complement the conversation about modernity that goes beyond the tech aspects. Mukherjee represents new-aged coppers eager to find evidence for their cases, while Mackintosh represents old-school tactics, like sending Wallace behind bars out of instinct. As silly and moderately amusing as they are, they soon wear out their welcome as they turn out to be the least interesting aspect of the story. Also, they fail to comically measure up to the rest of the ensemble. They greatly disrupt the pacing, which is strange considering this is a 79-minute film.
Vengeance Most Fowl is classic Wallace & Gromit goodness. It’s a family-friendly caper fueled by stellar stop-motion animation, hilarious gags, and a Feathers McGraw that proves to be that bad bird, and his silent villainy is a hoot. They are Britain's finest export right next to Paddington Bear.
Rating: 4/5
