Director: Nick Park & Merlin Crossingham
Starring: (voices of) Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith
Certificate: U
Run Time: 79 mins

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is the new Aardman film featuring the good-natured cheese-loving inventor and his intelligent anthropomorphic beagle, in what’s been a lengthy wait. The last time we saw the lovable clay-based duo was in A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008) and this is the first feature-length film since The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), which I consider to be a masterpiece. With Peter Sallis (the voice of Wallace) sadly passing away in 2017, he’s now been replaced by Ben Whitehead. This new film also sees the return of the villainous Feathers McGraw from The Wrong Trousers (1995), a scheming penguin who enacts his revenge on the duo by reprogramming Wallace’s new invention – Norbot, a robotic garden gnome – to an ‘evil’ setting. 

And it’s another triumph – Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is an excellent sequel with plenty of laughs and a typically sharp and witty script. The rapport between Wallace and Gromit is as strong as ever and the film has a lot to say on the reliance of AI and automation, the resurgence of old technology and police incompetence. There’s some fabulous action sequences (especially a climactic boat chase) and the film’s typically brimming with small details to pick up on future rewatches. Feathers McGraw steals the show yet again with some delicious gags and Ben Whitehead fits in seamlessly as Wallace – you’d be hard-pressed to tell it’s not Peter Sallis. 

That said, after two viewings, I don’t think it’s quite as strong as The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Vengeance Most Fowl is decidedly smaller-scale and there’s a surprising lack of cheese jokes (although the film makes up for it with plenty of other gags). This is yet another Wallace and Gromit adventure that’s impossible to resist and it does nothing to tarnish their revered reputation.