Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024) Dir: Merlin Crossingham & Nick Park
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The adventurous duo of Wallace and his pet dog Gromit are a staple of British television culture, and have produced several classic TV specials and films, since their debut in 1989 with the now-iconic 'A Grand Day Out'. I, like just about everything other UK resident of the last thirty years, absolutely adore these characters, so when a new feature film arrived, co-directed by Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park, there was no doubting that I'd watch it.
As is always the case when Aardman Animations are involved, the stop-motion clay animation was immaculate. I hope that Aardman never stops making animated productions like this - they're truly wonderful. I also liked that they included references to some of their other work, such as 'Shaun The Sheep'.
The film had a lot of strong comedic moments, including silly jokes and visual gags. It wasn't quite as funny as some of the very best 'Wallace And Gromit' moments, but I still found myself laughing a fair deal throughout the film, particularly in the second half. It was very much classic british comedy, which is right up my street, unsurprisingly.
The story, of course, saw the return of the two protagonist's most most iconic antagonist; 'Feathers McGraw'. I have to admit, it was a pleasant journey, watching this silly story unfold. No, it wasn't the best that Aardman have produced, but it was fun, it was charming, and it had a lot of silly hijinks from the various characters.
Ben Whitehead, the modern voice of the franchise's main character, did an enjoyable job of voicing his now-staple character once again. None of his dialogue ever sounds out-of-character, and he always gets his comedic intonations just right. All-in-all, this was another solid appearance from Whitehead.
The likes of Reece Shearsmith, Lauren Patel, and comedian Peter Kay, lead a quintessentially British cast that also featured Diane Morgan - aka Philomena Cunk, Adjoa Andoh, Lenny Henry, and Muzz Kahn. Of those three mentioned initially, Patel was easily the most enjoyable, although, Kay was also did well with a familiar character.
Overall, I would say this was a rather fun comedy adventure from the entertaining man and dog duo. As I've illuded to above, I don't think this film reached the level of quality that I've seen achieved with prior stories, but it was certainly entertaining, and I would happily watch it again. It will most definitely satisfy the vast majority of viewers, by my estimations.
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