Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl made its debut, after a short cinema release for technical reasons, on BBC One in the UK on Christmas Day, and will be available on Netflix from 3rd January.
Being a multiple Oscar-winning institution, it seems crazy to think that this is their first feature-length adventure since Curse Of The Were-Rabbit nearly 20 years ago, with only A Matter Of Loaf And Death from 2008 as an intervening TV short.
So what claymation antics are in store this time around?
Wallace invents a robotic garden gnome, Norbot, and creates a business hiring it out to work in people’s gardens.
However, all is not well. An old enemy, long cooling their heels in prison, sees the gnome as an opportunity for both revenge, and enrichment. Once again it falls to the faithful hound, Gromit, to uncover the truth and identify their tormentor.
So is it actually any good?
Yes, it’s absolutely superb. Aardman Animation has always believed in quality over quantity and this is every bit as fantastic as Curse Of The Were-Rabbit.
The whole thing is simply bursting with gags and movie references, from The African Queen to the most ridiculous excesses of The Fast And The Furious.
Where Were-Rabbit was a brilliant riff on old Hammer and Universal creature features, this is firmly taking inspiration from 1990s and 2000s high-concept techno thrillers.
You will still be identifying callouts and background sight gags several rewatches later.
It is laugh-out-loud funny, in that peculiar British way. It delivered more proper belly laughs than a year of a Hollywood comedy output combined. The Yorkshire and Lancashire gags are simply exquisite, and there are some well-crafted jibes at television’s obsession with representation.
The waterborne action finale is an absolute riot of silliness.
The late Peter Sallis is perfectly replaced by Ben Whitehead as Wallace. He is joined by comic Peter Kay, returning from earlier installments as a hapless police officer, and Diane Morgan – perhaps better known by her alter-ego Philomena Cunk. Norbert is played with terrifying joviality, multiple times, by Inside No9 and League Of Gentlemen star Reece Sheersmith.
The whole thing is an absolute delight. It’s come right at the end of the year, but 2024 has finally delivered a perfect movie, and it’s a Wallace & Gromit adventure.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is available now on BBC iPlayer, and soon on Netflix. It currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
