Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl  - Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

THERE’S something so reassuringly reliable about the craftsmanship and brilliance of the team at Aardman Animation that makes the prospect of seeing Wallace & Gromit back on-screen for the first time in almost 20 years an almost feel-good certainty.

And true to form, Vengeance Most Fowl delivers everything you would expect from them: it’s visually inventive, humorous and brilliantly knowing in the way that it references the genres it is working in, while maintaining an identity that’s firmly its own.

Directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, this revisits a former foe of the inventor duo, in the form of Feathers McGraw, the villain last seen in Park’s own 1993 Oscar-winning short The Wrong Trousers.

Now serving time at a zoo for attempting to steal a blue diamond, Feathers (aka a penguin) sees an opportunity for revenge when Wallace invents a new gardening gnome, Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith), thereby hacking into its computer brain to turn it evil.

Hence, no sooner has Norbot started to win over the local gardening fraternity and secure work for Wallace, then he is creating evil clones and stealing property, framing Wallace in the process, while assisting Feathers’ plan to escape and reclaim his diamond.

As ever, it’s down to the sceptical, put-upon Gromit to save the day. Armed with his usual, brilliant array of expressions, the plucky canine sets about uncovering the plot and restoring tarnished reputations.

As with past adventures such as The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Vengeance Most Fowl thrives on the old-school nature of its delivery. It is, first and foremost, a love letter to stop-motion animation, in which format it continues to push boundaries while resisting the urge to go digital. It therefore harks back to a bygone era of animation, in which you can practically feel the love that has been poured in.

Likewise, the humour - while knowing and clever - is family friendly and, again, slightly old fashioned. But it’s inoffensive, which is nice, as well as quintessentially British. Admittedly, there are a lot of dad jokes - but this only adds to the endearing quality.

The story, too, is inventive even if the main plot beats feel obvious, with both Feathers and Gromit proving wily adversaries. Feathers, in particular, is a really good villain, while Norbot is suitably creepy - which lends the film an edge.

It means that once the action ramps up and the ingenuity of the animation is really given a workout, audiences will be rooting for the loveable duo to once more emerge victorious. Vengeance Most Fowl is an effortless crowd pleaser that maintains Aardman’s impressive reputation. Let’s hope it won’t be almost another 20 years before we get another caper.