REVIEW: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl [2024]

Rating: PG | Runtime: 79 minutes
Release Date: December 18th, 2024 (UK/USA)
Studio: Aardman Animations / Netflix
Director(s): Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham
Writer(s): Mark Burton / Nick Park & Mark Burton (story)

Neat and tidy!

What better way to bring Wallace and Gromit back into the public consciousness than with the return of their dastardly villain Feathers McGraw? It’s been sixteen years since the last short entry (A Matter of Loaf and Death), nineteen years since the first feature length entry (The Curse of the Were-Rabbit), and thirty-one(!) years since the claymation duo foiled their penguin foe in The Wrong Trousers. That’s a lot of time and a lot of Lewis Newplast clay—the last of which was purchased to complete this latest adventure, Vengeance Most Fowl. The one thing that hasn’t changed is Nick Park’s humor and artistic ingenuity.

If nothing else, this feature (co-directed with Merlin Crossingham and scribed by Mark Burton) is gorgeous. The animation is impossibly smooth with water effects, huge action set-pieces, and the best silent film acting this century thanks to both Gromit (whose eyebrows do so much) and Feathers (whose dead-face does even more courtesy of brilliant reaction shots of those around him). And the addition of computer effects courtesy of an AI plot line never misses a beat. Neither does Ben Whitehead coming in to fill the late Peter Sallis’ shoes in his first “main saga” production after voicing Wallace in numerous other iterations.

The story goes as follows: Feathers languishes in his zoological prison while Wallace’s penchant for Rube Goldberg-esque inventions have gotten out of control. Gromit can only deal with the Pee-Wee Herman style wake-up routine nonsense (that he is forced to orchestrate for his owner) because he still has his garden sanctuary in the backyard. So, of course, Wallace must interfere there in the guise of “help” by introducing his newest piece of cutting-edge technology, Norbot (Reece Shearsmith). This mechanical gnome programmed for clean and homogenized landscaping destroys years of work in an instant and, because the lemmings of this world love convenience and uniformity, the entire neighborhood is enthralled.

Long story short, Feathers gets wind of his nemesis’ new endeavor to lease Norbot for “gnome improvement” jobs and hatches a plan to hack into its programming to stage a jailbreak and a heist to reclaim the fabled blue diamond. As per usual, Wallace is too naïve to notice when his “good” helpers turn evil, so it’s up to Gromit to save the day. But that only works if Chief Inspector Mackintosh (Peter Kay) and PC Mukherjee (Lauren Patel) don’t stop his last-minute heroics considering all roads lead to Wallace once his customers discover they’ve all been robbed. Could it be that Feathers has crafted a foolproof plan to achieve his goals and destroy his enemies? Or will the pushed-aside sidekicks once again come to the rescue?

The script is full of hilarious sight gags as a fleet of evil Norbots hide its intentions to all those not looking as closely as Gromit (and us). And since most of the narrative propulsion hinges on ineptitude, Feathers’ cool confidence proves ever more effective by comparison. The AI commentary is handled well too with the notion that its optimal use is to complete menial housework while also revealing how those “chores” can often be another person’s haven. Because there’s artistry to Gromit’s flowers and accomplishment in their methodical upkeep. The same goes for Wallace’s increasingly elaborate inventions that still need human input. You can’t therefore assume what Norbot has been trained to do will also be what its owner wants. AI is just another tool.

That it all leads to a high concept finale with a not so high-speed chase, sabotage, mistaken identities, and explosions is but a cherry on top. Enemies become friends. Assumptions become reversed. And the simple things in life that we’re quickly erasing from public consciousness return to the fold for both a sigh of relief and a bit of mystery too. In the end, though, it’s really about reminding Wallace that who he is relies upon what he does. Sure, it’s cool to build a robot that can ultimately replace him, but does that truly bring him joy? No. And just because his inventions created this trouble doesn’t mean he can’t still invent something else to stop it. Whatever it takes to finish the day with best friend Gromit by his side.