Wallace and Gromit cross paths with the evil criminal mastermind Feathers McGraw for the first time since 1993’s The Wrong Trousers.
The nation’s beloved animated characters, Wallace & Gromit, are back for their second feature-length film, Vengeance Most Fowl.
In this new outing, Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead, who replaces the late Peter Sallis) and Gromit must once again face off with the evil criminal mastermind, penguin Feathers McGraw, who is imprisoned in the zoo following the events of the 1993 short, The Wrong Trousers.
Feathers plots his revenge and his escape by infiltrating the duo’s new smart gnome Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith) and turning him evil.
Vengeance Most Fowl is an absolute delight! It’s exactly what you’d expect from the franchise – the characters are exactly the same and the story beats are very familiar, especially when compared to The Wrong Trousers.
Some people may deem this as a negative, but when that’s been such a successful formula for 30+ years, why change it? Fans tune in to see Wallace’s new inventions (of which there are many), his latest hair-brained idea, and the way in which Gromit saves the day. Those are the fundamentals.
After several blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos, it’s great fun seeing Feathers back in a significant role. His prison scenes brilliantly send up revenge movie tropes and some of its expressions are hilarious.
As always, the sense of humour here is spot-on and so very British. You will be constantly cackling at the jokes, subtle wordplay, pop cultural references and Gromit’s expressive face.
A Wallace & Gromit story typically culminates in a final chase – who can forget the train sequence in The Wrong Trousers? – but this is the biggest and most ambitious yet. It’s mind-blowing how they pulled it off as a stop-motion animation.
Since Feathers’s debut appearance in The Wrong Trousers, stop-motion technology has come on leaps and bounds. The animation looks so fluid and seamless now, the cinematography is impressive and the silent Gromit is more emotive than ever.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is a wonderful animation that delivers a worthy message about our overreliance on technology.
In selected cinemas on Wednesday 18th December and on BBC One Christmas Day.
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