Release Date – 8th December 2023, Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 38 minutes, Director – Sam Fell
When their daughter (Bella Ramsey) runs away to a haven for chickens Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi) band together with other escapees from Tweedy’s Farm to break in before something more sinister is revealed.
Chicken Run’s concept is simple: The Great Escape with chickens. Throw in some very clever jokes and one of the greatest villains to grace the silver screen and you’ve got a mix for a rightfully high-regarded film. Aardman’s first feature show themselves as they meant to go on. Playfully tinkering with genre elements to get laughs through their distinct and loving stop-motion homages. They’d do similar with horror flicks (particularly Hammer horror titles) in Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit and sci-fi classics in the underrated gem A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.
It therefore comes as something of a surprise that with the simple idea of breaking in Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget feels somewhat generic for Aardman. Even the animation, albeit still impressive, doesn’t quite have the same effect. There are multiple shots in the original where so much is happening where you wonder ‘how did they manage to pull that off?’, here this response is limited to just once, perhaps twice.
Yet, as Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi) attempt to break into what’s advertised as a chicken haven there are still some enjoyable Aardman-esque jokes and puns here and there – plus an excellent use of Cliff Richard’s Summer Holiday. The best moments are those hidden in a scene – a newspaper headline declaring that “police suspect fowl play” – or, as mentioned, some masterclass-level puns and wordplay, including in visual gags. These are the moments that remind you that there is an Aardman film amongst the more familiar elements of the narrative.
As Ginger and Rocky’s daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey), having escaped at the start of the film in search for a more free life, alongside new friend Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) discovers that the Barbieland for chickens they’re in may not be everything it’s been sold as there’s a recognisable set of heist film tropes playing out around the rest of the building. Rocky and rats Nick (Romesh Ranganathan) and Fetcher (Daniel Mays) crawl through air vents and get caught in machines, while the other familiar faces (and in this case voices) try to logically work their way around. We spend so much time jumping back and forth between them and the factory’s tech-whiz Dr Fry (Nick Mohammed – seemingly having a fun time being in an Aardman feature) that the once-terrifying Mrs Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) has little to actually do here.
When she is used it’s mostly in the third act, containing some of the best stuff of the film overall, and perhaps having the most feel like the original. It’s when Dawn Of The Nugget finally feels as if it properly finds its stride, and as if the elements have come together for it to finally do what it wants to do. A lot of the creativity and spark is held here, alongside a the strongest feeling of joy in what is being made, making for something more enjoyable in the grander moments of the 98 minute run-time. There’s a journey to go on before then, and thankfully one with a likable nature and enough silly, very British, puns and elements to keep things moving and the audience engaged.
While for much of the run-time Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget may feel rather safe by Aardman’s standards there are enough jokes and moments to remind you of just what makes the passionate British stop-motion masters so great.
Just A Little Bit Random 