After many years, a staple of the animation world is being revived thanks to the release of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Aardman Animation’s latest stop-motion effort centered around the beloved duo. This is the first Wallace & Gromit movie to release since 2008’s A Matter of Loaf and Death, and also the first to feature new Wallace actor Ben Whitehead, with him taking over from the late Peter Sallis. Understandably, expectations are high, and directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham are aiming high with a story that is both timely and looking back at the series’ past.
I do want to preface this by admitting that outside of one installment I watched when I was a kid, I’m pretty new to the Wallace & Gromit world. I’ve always been aware of their place in pop culture, but it’s never been an area I’ve sought out. However, after watching Vengeance Most Fowl, I definitely see the appeal of these beautifully animated adventures and the characters who inhabit them.
Vengeance Most Fowl Puts Its Own Spin On A Timely, Familiar Story
This Is Still Definitely Wallace & Gromit’s World
In the time since his last onscreen outing, Wallace has not been idle, as Vengeance Most Fowl quickly dives back into his love of inventing wild contraptions. The whole house has been taken over by machines geared to make his life easier, much to Gromit’s consternation. It only gets worse when Wallace reveals his latest creation: Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), a garden gnome programmed to be immensely helpful and perfectly fulfill household tasks. He immediately destroys Gromit’s colorful garden in the name of efficiency, thus making an enemy of the beagle.
It could easily become a boring and predictable tale, but screenwriters Park and Mark Burton smartly keep this as a Wallace & Gromit adventure first and foremost.
While news of Norbot’s skill grows, a character familiar to longtime viewers lingers in the shadows. Feathers McGraw, the notorious thief Wallace and Gromit put away in 1993’s The Wrong Trousers, sits in jail (aka, the zoo) biding his time. When McGraw catches wind of Norbot, a plan begins to form, and anyone who has seen a movie involving AI can tell where this is going.
It could easily become a boring and predictable tale, but screenwriters Park and Mark Burton smartly keep this as a Wallace & Gromit adventure first and foremost. Even as Norbot goes rogue and gets increasingly terrifying, Feathers McGraw remains the primary antagonist, and the friendship between the two titular characters is always at the heart of the plot. Gromit has a deep distrust of Norbot that’s initially rooted in his dislike of Wallace’s over-reliance on technology, but his decision to further pursue the intelligent gnome is based on his desire to protect his human pal.
Wallace & Gromit’s Latest Adventure Feels As High-Stakes As An Action Movie
And It’s Only Enhanced By The Excellent Animation
Vengeance Most Fowl ties together low and high stakes to make a thrilling caper. Wallace’s Norbot creation stirs up trouble in his quaint neighborhood, and that somehow becomes as urgent as Feathers McGraw once again trying to steal a diamond from the local museum. It all comes together in a breathless chase across town and down the river, giving Vengeance Most Fowl the opportunity to both let loose with its animation and to again ground the story in Wallace and Gromit’s friendship.
I’ll never stop, pun not intended, being amazed by stop-motion animation, and Vengeance Most Fowl is a perfect display of the incredible work that can come from it. From Wallace’s zany inventions to the third act’s barge chase, the animators bring this world to life with expert skill. Special credit must be given to Norbot’s design; though packaged in an adorably tiny garden gnome body, the robot turns out to be genuinely unsettling as its evil side comes out. The permanent grin etched on his face, coupled with his mechanical movements, makes him a scary villain and adds to Vengeance Most Fowl‘s thrills.
Related
Memoir Of A Snail Review: Adam Elliot’s New Stop-Motion Film Will Make You Laugh As Much As You Cry
Though there are bright spots throughout the film’s 94-minute runtime, Memoir of a Snail pulls no punches and isn’t afraid to make you cry.
Though I can’t say how it stacks up against previous Wallace & Gromit movies, I can confidently say that Vengeance Most Fowl is a worthy addition to the canon, one that shows the series’ strengths and tackles a hot topic with ease. This movie made me laugh and gasp in equal measure, and I found myself thoroughly charmed by Wallace’s eccentric nature and Gromit’s unwavering loyalty. I expect this will win over longtime fans and newcomers alike when it officially debuts.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will air on BBC in the UK on December 25 before premiering worldwide on Netflix on January 3, 2025. It is 78 minutes long and rated PG for some action and rude humor.
9/10
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl follows the beloved inventor Wallace and his loyal dog Gromit as they embark on a new adventure to uncover the mystery behind a series of poultry-related incidents in their town. Amid the chaos, they encounter unexpected adversaries and challenges that test their bond.
- The stop-motion animation is phenomenal
- The story is high stakes and has a lot of heart
- The film is grounded in Wallace and Gromit’s friendship
- Vengeance Most Fowl is equally humorous, thrilling, and heartwarming