Wallace & Gromit will forever be icons of British pop culture, so much so that people were eagerly awaiting their latest return when it was announced that a new feature film was set to be released on Netflix in early 2025. With this being their sixth film (as well as their second feature length film after Curse of the Were-Rabbit), the trailers seemed conscious of audience’s nostalgia and presented the same sensible charm and unique personality that made the short films so interesting and beloved, and with the creator Nick Park returning to direct, it felt like the cheese-loving duo were coming back in style. Returning to the all-too-familiar household, Wallace (voiced now by Ben Whitehead) and his dog, Gromit, need a new source of income after Wallace’s insignificant inventions cause their finances to plummet. Ironically, Wallace’s next invention, a robotic garden gnome named Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith) may be the solution to their problem, as he is equipped with all the tools required to be a godsend around the house, causing Gromit to feel a little inadequate. After being hired to trim their neighbours’ gardens, things look up for the pair, but this new invention is noticed by Feathers McGraw, the villainous penguin who was imprisoned after the duo prevented his theft of the Blue Diamond many years ago, who hacks into Wallace’s computer software, and turns Norbot evil. After duplicating himself into multiple copies, the Norbots proceed to steal from every house they worked for, causing Wallace to be labelled as an evil inventor, which gets the attention of police chief, Albert Mackintosh (voiced again by Peter Kay) and his plucky young protégée, Mukherjee (voiced by Lauren Patel) who try to find the evidence to put Wallace away. With Wallace being none the wiser, it’s up to Gromit to discover who turned the Norbots into bad gnomes, which will put him straight on the path of their old, winged nemesis. With an 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and becoming the 2nd most watched UK broadcast on BBC, Vengeance Most Fowl retains the wholesome likeability of the franchise and provides a quick and delightful watch. While not groundbreaking by any means, the likeable characters, glorious visuals and smart scripting more than make this return worth inspecting.

Aardman as a studio never produced a ton of content outside of Britain, most likely due to their last experience working with Hollywood turning into a bit of a sour endeavor. Nick Park publicly stated his frustration with working with DreamWorks due to constantly being told to alter aspects of his work in order to pander to American children who wouldn’t understand the distinctly British elements, which was one of the main reasons why he never made another feature length film after Curse of the Were-Rabbit. After an extended sabbatical and being in a more comfortable working space (that being his home country), it would’ve felt like the right time to bring his beloved stop-motion creation back, with this new film being released on BBC domestically and internationally distributed through Netflix. This movie somewhat acts as a continuation of arguably their best short film, The Wrong Trousers, with Feathers McGraw returning as the main antagonist and following up on his old scheme, but it is still its own creation and has a lot of modern-day elements which help spice up the formula. This current perspective is arguably one of the best things about this movie, as the way it tackles the topic of AI and the dangers that come with letting it roam free and grow to the point of outpacing its inventor, is pretty interesting and strangely well discussed within this script very nicely written by Mark Burton (who also helped create the story alongside Park). Wallace & Gromit have never really been message-heavy, but this film presents a cautionary look at a real-world issue without ever making it feel like a pandering statement or an obvious focal point, instead using its remarkably chill, quaint and peacefully quirky atmosphere to naturally present its theme without needing to outwardly state it. It flows very naturally with these characters and set up (Wallace can’t even get out of bed without needing technology, so it honestly writes itself), and although not delivering an entirely new perspective, gets across its point far more meaningfully than any ten-minute monologue ever could. The film in general is presented in a very straightforward manner, never exceeding above what you’d predict a Wallace & Gromit short would provide, but in many ways, that’s all that’s needed. The pace is quick, but doesn’t feel overly rushed, the dialogue is never outright hilarious, but has an innocent cheekiness that is always endearing, the characters are all still charming as always and some of the new faces are equally as heartwarming, and even though the original shorts are still better and more distinct, this still feels more in line with Aardman’s style than something like Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which while still good, felt more like a DreamWorks property.

These characters will always remain in animation history for their timeless appeal and simple, but instantly memorable dynamic, and it seems that no matter how many times they reappear, it never gets old due to just how charming they are. Wallace is still the bumbling inventor who despite having good intentions in making his elaborate inventions, winds up causing more chaos than he is equipped to deal with, and Gromit is the more hands-on character who usually has to clean up these messes without ever uttering so much as a bark. That dynamic has stayed present throughout all the different properties (it would be pretty hard to mess up something so simple) and maybe due to the fact that there are no other iterations of these characters, they haven’t had the chance to be poorly delivered yet, which is just great to see after so many years. While nothing about this bond is really changed or explored this time around (even the final resolution is heart-warming, but not really surprising), it does still work well because of how well these two are realized. With this being the first film to not feature the late Peter Sallis as the voice of Wallace, that task was given to Ben Whitehead (who has featured in past Aardman properties as a few background roles before elevating to the lead character), and he does an incredible job capturing the specific voice and inflections of the character almost to a scary degree. While it is obviously a different person, it isn’t in any way distracting or too different to the original, proving that Whitehead is a great replacement that will be able to proudly carry the torch in future projects. Much like the other shorts, the movie doesn’t feature that many characters outside of the regular mainstays and one or two newcomers, but because the cast is small, it allows time for each relevant person to have a sense of character and purpose in the plot. As previously stated, Wallace & Gromit having to dealing with the topic of AI is very appropriate, with Wallace being an inventor obsessed with technology who loves seeing its evolution, and Gromit being left in the background and feeling underappreciated against a more efficient tool since he is usually more of the hands-on proactive character. Norbot as a character just works very well with this world’s style of humor, with a design that can be both cute and creepy when it’s required, a voice that never gets grating to hear, and a purpose that shows simultaneously how AI can be productive and helpful for homely affairs, but also soulless and uncreative when it comes to delivering their tasks. Mukherjee is a simple cute character, and Peter Kay gets a few fun moments as the police chief (with one including the true location of the Blue Diamond being particularly humorous). Strangely, the villain is the one thing that feels the least relevant in the whole picture, as despite Feathers being prominently used in all the trailers, he isn’t in the film as much as you’d expect. The Norbots play the antagonist for a good chunk of the running time, and they work quite well in that department, so it raises the question of whether or not Feathers was even necessary for the film (which is a legit concern to have for your main villain). Either way, he is still an iconic villain for this franchise, and the fact that he is able to hold that title while still being a penguin says a lot about this universe.

It has been wonderful watching the evolution of Aardman’s claymation, as even though they’re working within a miniature subgenre of an already diminishing industry and have been losing more and more available resources by the year, they’ve still been able to continue chugging on and retained their classic style, look and personality. This film is definitely the brightest and most colorful of their previous work, with a polished, clean and vibrant look that is very eye-catching with a fluidity and expressiveness that has never looked better, it’s always great to see such an underappreciated artform being respected in the modern age and proving why it’s a style still worth exploring. However, while it looks the nicest, it might also look the safest, which by default makes it the least memorable looking Wallace & Gromit product. The shorts were on a smaller budget and were still developing their craft, but the moodier lighting, cramped camera angles and legitimately suspenseful and intense tone made them one-of-a-kind, and while Curse of the Were-Rabbit doesn’t capture that tone exactly, its horror aesthetic did help it lean more in that direction, whereas this film doesn’t really do that and is much more fluffy and cheery looking. This detail in no way detracts from how enjoyable this film is, but the bright colors and extremely prominent lighting arguably make the film feel less unique by comparison, even if it’s never to a harmful degree. The musical score by returning composers, Lorne Balfe and Julian Nott, remains as a upbeat, distinct-sounding tune that encapsulates the personality and atmosphere of Wallace & Gromit perfectly, and the frequentness of which scenes are scored (which would normally be irritating), only adds to the mood of a moment it’s a sign of great talent when they are able to pull something like that off.

If you’re a fan of Wallace & Gromit (which should be a majority of people since it feels almost impossible to dislike these two), Vengeance Most Fowl is obviously already going to be on your radar, but if it hasn’t been viewed yet, you are going to enjoy what you see. It’s nice that after so many years, this movie shows that Wallace & Gromit not only still have millage as a property, but that future stories will be accepted with open arms as long as they are written with the same kind of passion and cheer. In comparing all related films, this one is stronger than Curse of the Were-Rabbit because it contains more of Aardman’s unique properties, but it’s hard to say that it reaches the heights of those original shorts (which is a little unfair as arguably none ever will). It still has charming characters, solid writing, engrossing visuals, and a better dissection of AI than anyone would’ve expected, so it is worth your time, but it’s more of a pleasant revisiting rather than a glorious comeback that is on-pare with its original debut. Strangely little talk of cheese in this one, but otherwise, a pure delight.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,