Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget (2023) Dir: Sam Fell
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If I were to draw up a list of films I would have liked to see sequels for, the beloved 2000 film Chicken Run would not be on that list. The film had a really nice story that didn't need anything additional. But, such is the nature of cinema now, 2023 brought with it this Netflix produced sequel.
It's safe to say, therefore, that my expectations were low coming into this. I will say, however, that I enjoyed this Sam Fell directed adventure a lot more than I was prepared for. It certainly wasn't perfect, far from it, but it was alright for what it was.
I will always have a soft spot for the wonderful animation of Aardman - they always bring such heart, such detail and such creativity to their stop-motion animations. It was certainly a huge plus that the film featured such excellent animation. It made it a lot more watchable.
My problems mainly came from the writing, which was, unfortunately, pretty poor. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of the jokes - both visual and dialogue - but there were also a fair few that either fell flat or just felt as though an A.I. wrote them.
The actual narrative was nothing special, and relied heavily on the prior film's established characters and traits to form a meaningful story. But, that said, for what it was, I didn't hate it. It gave audiences a couple of interesting new folds to the world of talking chickens that did at least give the sequel something new to show.
Thandiwe Newton took over to voice the role of the film's protagonist, and, for what it's worth, I thought she did a decent enough job. I do think she was outshone by some of her co-stars, but she did well enough, in my view.
Bella Ramsey was the bright spark of the film to me. I think they were the best addition to the film, both creatively and performance-wise. They felt endearing and committed, which made them very easy to like.
Zachary Levi and Josie Sedgwick-Davies were, in my opinion, the clear standouts of the supporting cast. Levi emulated the man he replaced pretty well, and felt as though he gave the character a lot of effort, although I wasn't thrilled by some of the delivery of his jokes. Sedgwick-Davies, on the other hand, was a delight. I thought she was a great addition to the cast.
The duo of Miranda Richardson and Nick Mohammed proved to be a relatively entertaining combination, although they did feel like a symptom of the film's failure to create compelling new antagonists. It wasn't their fault, but they did feel very much like rehashed villains.
The film has some fairly enjoyable, if not all that memorable, performances from the likes of Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, David Bradley, Jane Horrocks, Romesh Ranganathan and Daniel Mays.
Overall, while I wouldn't call this a necessary film, and while I don't think it was all that brilliant, I did find some genuine entertainment and humour in the film. Is it worthy of the undeniably classic original? Not quite. That said, there's still a fair few funny moments to enjoy, and I'm sure younger audiences will, understandably, be a lot less cynical towards it.
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