I cannot fully convey to everyone just how excited I was when I heard that we were getting another feature-length Wallace & Gromit adventure. Not just another outing for the pair, but a feature. I have loved this animated duo ever since watching them have a little trip to the moon, and their last feature remains a favourite of mine. The fact that The Wrong Trousers has some gags that never fail to make me chuckle also increased my enthusiasm for this, considering that it continues a story started in that near-perfect short.
Life has settled into a fairly content and settled pattern for our two main characters. Yes, the bills are starting to pile up, but Wallace thinks he can ease their situation with another cracking invention. He invents a smart gnome, Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith), and soon gets some attention from those wanting to make use of the gadget. Not everyone wants to use Norbot for good though. Feathers McGraw, imprisoned for his attempted diamond theft, figures out a way to access some computers and hack into the smart gnome operating system.
Although it's now Ben Whitehead voicing Wallace, Peter Sallis (aka Wallace Prime) passed away back in 2017, everything here feels reassuringly familiar and consistent. Nick Park is once again a stickler for detail, something that comes through in his co-directing with Merlin Crossingham and the story shaped into a full screenplay by writer Mark Burton. All three men are familiar with the characters, and the Aardman Animations house style (especially when it comes to the many visual gags, the puns, and the wonderfully British filter on common Hollywood movie tropes), and the commitment to making every scene and sequence the best it can possibly be shines through every single minute of the 79-minute runtime.
Aside from Whitehead, who is a great fit for Wallace, and the fun robo-voice provided by Shearsmith, there's room for the vocal stylings of Peter Kay and Lauren Patel (playing two representatives of the long arm of the law), Diane Morgan (playing a TV news reporter), Muzz Khan, Lenny Henry, and one or two others. Of course, the non-speaking parts are just as amusing, if not more so, and it's a real treat to once again have a big chuckle surprised out of me by the facial expressions of an exasperated Gromit and the nefarious Feathers McGraw.
Composer Lorne Balfe provides the score this time around, although the transition is so seamless that you'd be forgiven for thinking it was still in the experienced hands of Julian Nott (responsible for the music in every past main Wallace & Gromit adventure), and both the music and various sound effects perfectly complement the visuals, which are stuffed full of details, jokes, and delightful references to other movies.
It may not be their VERY best, but this is easily another animated outing that shows why Aardman Animations has long been a deserving part of any conversation about films that constitute the crème de la crème of family entertainment.
8/10
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I watched this this morning (personally, Wallace & Gromit are more suited to that time of the day). 8 out of 10 is about right IMO - it's not their best, but even their average is better than most film-makers' best!
ReplyDeleteFeathers McGraw is just one of the greatest villains in cinema history - the bit where he swings around in the chair was one of the best jokes of the film.