Wallace and Gromit have been around a while, but they always know when to pop in and make things better, but never overstay their welcome. They’ve popped in again with a new film, just when we needed them. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is their first feature-length film in almost 20 years and a slight sequel to their short film “The Wrong Trousers”.
There are two parts to the story. The first is about Wallace, the cheese-loving inventor, trying to make something he thinks will make living easier. He creates a robot named Norbot (designed as a lawn gnome), that makes gardening tasks easier by doing the work instead of people. Wallace had good intentions, thinking he was helping his dog and pal, Gromit, with gardening. Gromit, on the other hand, takes pleasure in the slow and quiet task of gardening and doesn’t take the robot idea well. Norbot transforms the well-loved but not neat garden into something standardized and bland.
The movie shows how Wallace loves inventing and technology which, is the source of many of their adventures in past affairs, and how he may have become too reliant on tech in ways beyond the simple. When things go south we see him struggle with basic things like putting on clothes and making tea. Again, his intentions weren’t bad; he thought he was helping Gromit and others.
The other part of the story links it back to the short film “The Wrong Trousers”. The villain of that film, Feathers McGraw, is back. The penguin who was imprisoned (in a zoo) isn’t happy that the duo sent him there, and he wants to get his revenge, and to get the blue diamond he seeks back. It’s a simple villain motivation and it’s fun. Both parts of the story connect well.
Feathers decides to get his revenge and the diamond, without even leaving his imprisonment. He finds a way to hack into the robot Wallace made and change the settings from good to evil. The other Norbots also fall in line and this ends up ruining Wallace’s reputation. Even worse, the twist of what happened to the diamond is funny and brilliant. It’s not good for Wallace, on the other hand. Like many mishaps with Wallace and Gromit, it’s up to Gromit to fix things.
Wallace is voiced by Ben Whitehead, in his first voicing of Wallace in a non-video-game Wallace and Gromit project. He does a good job of sounding like the previous voice of the late Peter Sallis. Wallace is an inventor, but slightly absent-minded and misses things before him. In this movie, he’s still himself but gets wrapped up in his latest invention and not paying attention to things being a little off. Gromit, the dog, is more clever and thoughtful. He’s a charming character as always. As a character that doesn’t talk you get a lot of expression from his eyes and movements to understand his thoughts. You can tell when he’s annoyed by something Wallace is doing, or suspicious of the Norbots. He’s the one who has to figure out how to fix the messes that arise, in this case, the evil robots and Feathers McGraw.
Feathers McGraw is a great villain. He’s a cunning evil penguin, like Gromit, he doesn’t talk. He still feels off-putting and intimidating. His not talking makes him feel evil and scarier because you don’t know what he’s planning or thinking off-hand. PC Mackintosh makes a return from the first feature “Curse of the Were-Rabbit. He’s also a little absent-minded and kind of just wants to be the guy who gets accolades and probably waiting for retirement. Along with his contrasting more chipper and youthful PC Mukherjee, they make a fun and interesting duo on the case.
This is a comedy film and it’s packed. Some of the jokes are missable if you aren’t British or don’t know British culture. I got the Anton Deck reference, but many Americans probably won’t. And in typical “Wallace and Gromit” style, it packs a lot of gags and jokes without feeling too overboard or too punchline-heavy. There’s a lot of fun in watching something and expecting one thing to happen, and it gets subverted funnily.
I also liked how the tension of the movie worked. The robot gnome’s design was perfectly unsettling. Because Feathers doesn’t talk or emote, there’s a sense of mystery to what his plans are and what he is up to. The action throws in some fun as well, but it also is really good, with some tension as our heroes try to get the diamond.
The animation is Aardman’s gold standard. Aardman uses claymation to bring the characters to life. It’s their charming standard and something that stands out in the age where animated movies tend to be worked on with computers. It looks so good, you’ll sometimes forget that it was animated in stop motion. There’s an interesting fit that the movie which has a theme about technology in our lives is done in the style of claymation with humans using tangible figures and sets to make their art.
This movie is well-paced, but I’m unsure if it should have been feature-length or shorter. There’s nothing to me that feels like padding because something is interesting and entertaining in every second and it also feels like if it was shorter it’d also be just as impressive. I do like how if you didn’t watch “The Wrong Trousers”; it still stands on its own. You don’t have to have seen that short to understand this film, but you should watch it just for fun, and you get more Wallace & Gromit. Same, if you’ve never seen anything Wallace & Gromit before, the movie still works to never before viewers, but still rewards big fans.
I enjoyed this movie it was a fun treat to watch. The movie packs a whole lot of fun, laughs, and a bit of thoughtfulness to make a really entertaining trip. The characters are as fun as ever, the animation is charming as ever, and the story is charming and makes you think. Aadarman didn’t miss a beat. Give this a watch, it’s fun for any age.
You can watch Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl on BBC Iplayer in the UK and on Netflix worldwide.
