“Good grief, it’s you! Again!” Sixteen years after the madness of the ‘Were-Rabbit’, Aardman have returned my favourite duo to the screen – but not the cinema’s, no! Instead, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl was exclusively broadcast on Christmas Day as one of the BBC’s festive television highlights. With towering expectations (and Aardman’s dwindling reputation to recover), it’s safe to say our favourite cheese-eaters gave it their all. But sadly, as much as my Feathers McGraw slippers and I hate to admit it, even West Wallaby Street can’t survive the plague of sequelitis forever.
The film follows yet another of Wallace’s dysfunctioning inventions, this time in the form of a garden gnome named Norbot, who is manipulated by the comeback of legendary villainous penguin, Feathers McGraw. As usual, the charming shenanigans bestow British humour at its best. Fowl is rammed with easter eggs, dry comedy, puns, and ingenious movie references to the likes of Aliens, James Bond, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Thankfully, whilst other studios tend to shift their filmic signatures, Aardman knows who they are and what their fans want.
A Children’s TV Skit
Nevertheless, despite the giggles, segments of Fowl made it feel, for lack of a better word, cringe. Where previous instalments of the franchise had devoted their screen time entirely to Wallace, Gromit, and their villainous antagonist, the new release features a predictable subplot on Chief Inspector Mackintosh and his enthusiastic protégé Mukherjee, who in my opinion, contribute very little. The duo come across as a patronising children’s TV skit, with bumbling agency and a forced presence. But they’re far from the only culprits! From the dim-witted zookeepers to the flat townsfolk, and even an absent-minded Wallace himself, Fowl’s tediously intruding dialogue proves that, like Shaun the Sheep, Wallace & Gromit work best when there are no words at all (hence why Gromit and Feathers remain the nation’s most cherished characters).
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A Nostalgia-Baiting Sequel
Despite the stupidly HD explosion in the showdown, Fowl holds suspense almost as chillingly as its acclaimed predecessors. A quality overwhelmingly credited to the return of Feathers McGraw, who, combined with Wallace’s automated morning routine, and a cameo from our favourite sheep farmer, confirm Fowl’s status as a nostalgia-baiting sequel.
Still, the greatest distinction between Vengeance Most Fowl and the rest of the franchise is that this is a true sequel. Any other Wallace and Gromit film can be watched in any order, but Fowl is the first to require context. Whilst this may have aided in its ability to leverage nostalgia, the sentimentality has ultimately brought warmth to their characters; as if we’ve interrupted their retirement for one last ridiculous adventure.