Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham’s Wallace & Gromit: Revenge of the Most Birds is the second Wallace & Gromit film from Aardman Animations, the awesome factory that creates great comedies out of stop-motion clay animation characters.
Another hallmark of Aardman Animations is that they are very funny.
I knew their new film was off to a great start when it introduces the big bad, Feathers McGraw, through a parody of the prison scenes from Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear (1991). Any children’s movie that manages to justify a Scorsese parody is fine by me.
The story begins with McGraw’s twisted imprisonment (it’s more than just a prison sentence), the result of his frustration by the kindly inventor Wallace and his silent but enthusiastic dog Gromit. While McGraw plots revenge behind bars, a strange new development enters the Wallace and Gromit household: a robotic garden gnome named Norbot, who helps with chores and garden trimming.
Gromit quickly realizes that Norbot is a problem, while Wallace is grateful to have a competent operator and ignores Gromit’s warnings that Norbot is up to no good.
Norbot is a very funny character (kind of a cross between a C-3P0 and a Gremlin), and I never tire of him, nor all the facial expressions Gromit shares with Norbot that demonstrate their growing discomfort with each other. By the way, this movie is rated PG: the reason is stated as “rude humour”, but young audiences in particular may find Norbot’s creepy close-ups kind of creepy.
The timing couldn’t be better, with films depicting contemporary fears of artificial intelligence attracting sinister personalities and agendas. In the wake of “Fantasy” and “scared,” Both from this year, as well as the just-heated “M3GAN” franchise, the depiction of distrust and downright horror here toward the comfort of home technology feels too “instantaneous.”
There’s a sequence early on where Gromit witnesses how Norbot can “charge” himself overnight, a gag that’s the only laugh-to-tear funny bit of film I’ve had all year. The second thing is the use of Matt Monroe’s song “Born Free” in a perfect moment.
The grand finale is a boat chase down the canal, which is not only inventive and hilarious, but extremely exciting. This brilliant piece succeeds in emulating large-scale action films (a moment from “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning- Part 1” is given a strange spin) and serves as a fitting climax.
One of the fun things about the film was meeting Peter Lord, one of the founders of Aardman; Lord was pushing for a “Pirates!” “Band of Misfits” (2012) and agreed to be interviewed.
I had to tell him how I had recently dealt with a family tragedy and that watching Shaun the Sheep with my wife and laughing hysterically was our shared solace. Lord then opened his backpack, took out a figurine and showed me one of the figures used in the movie Pirate: seeing it up close was fascinating, because it looked less like an action figure than a miniature figure, with its purity. Details in the outfit and close-up details.
This level of care and quality has always been evident in their work. Moments in “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” set in an ornamental garden are worth watching closely, as it’s easy to miss small insects or birds in the background.
There’s a lot here that’s astonishing in its creative richness, as well as the kind of inspired silliness we get from Monty Python. In terms of relevant satire, there’s enough here to make you laugh and appreciate technology new and old.
Yes, this is a comedy for both technology lovers and technology haters.
Where does the film fit into Aardman’s film legacy? It’s as funny and dazzling as “Chicken Run” and “Shaun the Sheep Movie” and better than “Flushed Away,” “Early Man” and “The Pirates!” (2012). I loved the first Wallace and Gromit movie, “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” but this one is much more fun.
I’m writing this review on December 1st but I’m going to call it: This is the best comedy of 2024.
Four stars