Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Almost 20 years after their last feature-length adventure The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, everyone’s favourite cheese-eating claymation duo is back – and with a vengeance!

One of their earliest shorts saw eccentric inventor Wallace and his clever canine sidekick Gromit aid in the arrest of criminal mastermind Feathers McGraw, whose time behind bars has only fuelled his grudge against the pair. Meanwhile, Wallace has perfected the technological advancement of domestic routines and decides to spread out into horticultural spheres. A “smart gnome,” programmed to learn from DIY Garden Squad how to perfectly trim hedges and mow lawns, could be his most lucrative creation yet, as neighbours yearn for help with their gardening work. Unfortunately, any business plans are foiled when Wallace and Gromit’s avian arch nemesis finds a way to hack the robot’s software for his own sinister purposes.

Ardman Animations is easily one of the most reliable studios when it comes to continued quality output. With a process as sophisticated as stop-motion animation, the painstaking manual labour necessary simply doesn’t reconcile with lackadaisical storytelling.

Mark Burton’s script is full of crafty puns and quips, both wildly entertaining as well as in nifty service to the story. Each and every character feels wholly developed, and acts in concordance with their established attributes – an especially impressive feat given the fact that some of the protagonists are non-verbal. While staying true to the signature style of previous films, progress over the past decades has allowed for gorgeous details such as light reflections to be added into the mix, giving this instalment an unprecedented cinematic feel.

While there is no age limit as to who will enjoy Vengeance Most Fowl, an added bonus for children who may have been too young to see the latest Mission Impossible is that they don’t have to miss out on its thrilling bridge finale, as there is a loving nod to this and many other films, references likely only caught by the parents but perhaps paving the way for future cinephiles to rediscover at a later stage.

Vengeance Most Fowl is not only wildly entertaining family-friendly hijinks but ever so gently reminds viewers to reconsider which elements in our lives are actually served by technology and which ones are better left to human touch.

Selina Sondermann

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is released on BBC iPlayer on 25^th December 2024.

Watch the trailer for Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl here: