It may seem as though Wallace and Gromit have been appearing in movies since time immemorial. The bumbling inventor and his faithful companion can be like the comforting background noise of our culture.
In fact, their newest film, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is only their second feature-length outing. And it immediately reminds us why the characters have cast such a large impression in their little time.
We are immediately brought into their world, which, thanks to how tangible its claymation looks on screen, somehow, feels realer than real.
It starts when we learn that the penguin, Feathers McGraw, which Wallace & Gromit helped capture in one of their early shorts, has been doing hard time in a maximum security zoo, while plotting his revenge.
Meanwhile, Wallace has invented an AI “gnomebot” to serve as an all-encompassing Rosie-type robot. Gromit quickly feels threatened by the gnome’s relationship with Wallace.
Soon the neighbors want to hire Wallace’s gnomebots to do housework for them, but their appearances correspond with Feathers’ newest crime spree, turning the local police against Wallace.
The result is a warm, delightful, lovingly crafted little comedy. The characters are expressive enough that even the youngest children will be able to follow along and delight in their antics.
While its whimsy elevates the film, it’s still fundamentally a piece of British humor. It is dry, understated, and has a keen eye for the absurd, with loads of visual gags. If you don’t like British humor, you won’t like this film. It doesn’t transcend the Atlantic’s taste divide in the way Aardman’s other series Chicken Run does. But for those who have long enjoyed Wallace and Gromit, that is a virtue.
Wallace & Gromit’s release schedule is common for films hoping for major award buzz. It’s already been nominated for the Golden Globe for best animated-picture, so perhaps there’s some outside hope that will happen. But don’t be confused. This is not what you think of when you think of the big buzzy award films. This is a pleasant movie with a slow second act that will make you gasp and snicker. It’s silly. The bad guy is a penguin with a glove on its head pretending to be a chicken.
The film focuses on the theme of technology and AI. It doesn’t go without notice that it’s a theme in one of the few major animated films this year not using CGI. The Gnomebot attempts to replace Wallace’s relationship with his very real dog. By the end, they find how to harness the technology for their own purposes, and not the other way around. With very real concerns on the horizon on how AI technology is being used by teenagers, this is a worthwhile theme to introduce to kids. I may show it to mine as an excuse to broach the topic.
I’ll probably ask questions such as: Why did Wallace get so excited when he invented the gnomebot? Why was Gromit mad about the gnomebot? How did having the gnomebot change the way Wallace treated Gromit? How did they fix their relationship? What technologies can harm your relationships in the same way?
Three out of five stars. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl will be released in select theaters on December 18th, and on Netflix January 3rd.
