I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Andria Case to talk about the best movies and television to watch this weekend, including the stop-motion animated “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” the rerelease of “Se7en” and the spy thriller “Harbin.”
I join CTV Atlantic anchor Todd Battis to talk about the stop-motion animated “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” the sports drama “The Fire Inside” and the rerelease of “Seven.”
I sit in with hosts Jim Richards and Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to play the game “Did Richard Crouse Like This?” This week we talk about the Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” the stop-motion animated “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” and the spy thriller “Harbin.”
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to do a high five! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the animated “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” the spy thriller “Harbin” and the rerelease of “Seven.”
SYNOPSIS: Lovable underdogs Wallace and Gromit return with “Vengeance Most Fowl,” a new feature length stop-motion animated film about a vengeful penguin and technology run wild, now streaming on Netflix.
CAST: Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, Wuzz Khan, Lenny Henry. Directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham.
REVIEW: The almost twenty-year gap between the Oscar winning “Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit” and the new Netflix offering “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” has not diminished the charm and humour of the titular duo.
The stop-motion animated film sees cheese loving inventor Wallace (voice of Ben Whitehead) and his loyal beagle and best friend Gromit welcome a new invention, a time saving “smart” household Gnome named Norbot (Reece Shearsmith).
When that device is hacked by penguin criminal mastermind Feathers McGraw, Wallace’s invention develops a mind of its own and runs amok. “I just don’t get it,” Wallace says in his unmistakeable Yorkshire accent. “Why would me own gnome turn evil?”
Antics ensue.
There’s an innocence and childlike quality to Wallace and Gromit that makes them a classic comedy duo in the Yogi Bear and Boo Boo vein. Come for their amiable, quintessentially British optimism, stay for 79 minutes of sight gags, a dead-eyed but hilarious villain and the manic machinations of Norbot the gnome.
It takes a few minutes off the top to get things rolling, but once the story is established co-directors Park and Crossingham unleash a cavalcade of silly sight gags and gentle slapstick all rendered in beautiful stop-motion animation. The odd fingerprint visible on the clay figures lends an artisanal vibe that feels alive, organic and painstakingly handmade.
Themes of our dependence on technology are woven into “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” but the movie isn’t really about that. It’s really about the joy generated by these two iconic characters.