‘Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ review: A delightful romp with an anti-AI streak

For more than a decade, we have been in a Wallace and Gromit drought It’s been 16 years since the franchise’s last short, A matter of bread and deathand 19 since his first Academy Award-winning film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Mano Rabbit. It’s a long time to be apart of two of Britain’s greatest treasures.

Fortunately, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is here to put an end to this international crisis. The new film from Aardman Animations and Netflix reunites us with the beloved duo Claymation, and the results were like a comforting cheese plate.

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Directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, Vengeance Most Fowl begins with the return of a familiar face: that of Feathers McGraw, the penguin (and criminal mastermind) who tried to steal a precious diamond in 1993. The wrong pants. Thanks to the cheese-loving inventor Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead) and his loyal beagle Gromit, Feathers ended up behind bars at a local zoo, both seeking revenge.

Meanwhile, at 62 West Wallaby Street, Wallace has unleashed a host of new inventions, including an intelligent gnome named Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith). Gromit is already disturbed by Wallace’s confidence in his many inventions, but Norbot is the last straw. Not only does he ruin Gromit’s manicured garden, but he also appears to replace Gromit as Wallace’s right-hand man.

The threat of replacement is harrowing enough – and resonant with current fears of AI replacing artists – but things go from bad to worse when Feathers McGraw, genius that he is, manages to hack Norbot and turn him down a dark path. . With an army of angry Norbot clients and suspicious police officers breathing down Wallace’s neck, it’s up to Gromit to save the day and defeat Feathers once again.

Wallace and Gromit are charming as ever Vengeance Most Fowl.

While Vengeance Most Fowl it doesn’t touch enough The Curse of the Rabbit-Aranpartly because of his addiction The wrong pants on a new story, the film is still a delightful romp in every way. Stupidity reigns here, with Vengeance Most FowlThe smallest details of – including a deluge of puns and a cheese-themed captcha – are as likely to send you into orbit as their crazy pieces, which involve everything from boats to office chairs.

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Wallace and Gromit’s dynamic also remains fascinating, with a beleaguered Gromit once again cleaning up after the often-ignorant Wallace’s mess. Beyond this central couple, new and old characters add more layers Vengeance Most Fowl. Feathers McGraw continues to demonstrate his mischief and naivety, making him the perfect foil for Wallace and Gromit. The Curse of the Rabbit-AranChief Inspector Mackintosh (voiced by Peter Kay) also returns, his bumbling ineptitude a source of many laughs. Joining him is PC Mukherjee (voiced by Lauren Patel), a new police officer who may be the most competent character in the film. (human character, that is.)

Vengeance Most Fowl takes a stand against AI.

But it is Norbot that makes the biggest splash in Vengeance Most Fowlburst onto the screen with her bright red cheeks and a song about ordering that will surely blow your mind. In addition to providing some of Vengeance Most FowlThe best moments, like an absurd loading sequence that realizes Gromit takes it to extremes, Norbot’s presence also gets to the film’s key message about the dangers of use. AI and technology to replace human creation and connection.

That message comes from the beginning Vengeance Most Fowlwith Wallace’s large number of inventions creating distance between him and Gromit. The worst culprit? The Pet-O-Matic, a dog petting machine that removes all contact between humans and their best friend, leaving Gromit feeling further away from his master than ever. Meanwhile, Wallace hopes Gromit will “embrace the technology” – even ditching the AI ​​to prove a point.

Norbot takes these themes to more extremes. When we first see Gromit’s garden, it’s a colorful wonderland full of personality. By the time Norbot is done with it, however, it has become devoid of any personality, its variety of flowers and textures sanded down to smooth lawns and cubic topiaries. Looking at it, it is difficult to think of the so-called “AI art”, which plunders the work of other artists and lacks any soul of its own. Vengeance Most Fowl is the first Wallace and Gromit film to come out after the rise of AI, and it’s clear from the garden scene alone that he already has a lot of thoughts on the subject.

The reason Wallace sics Norbot on Gromit’s garden in the first place is because he thinks Gromit finds the manual labor of tending to his plants tedious. But for Gromit, who we saw in small quiet moments of gardening, the process is it the point And it’s hard to think of a cinematic form where this emphasis on process resonates more than Claymation itself, Wallace and Gromitbread and butter.

Claymation and stop-motion are laborious journeys, time, but like Vengeance Most Fowl try it, its rewards are huge. Handcrafted sets and characters breathe new life and texture into the film, while Wallace’s elaborate Rube Goldberg inventions are testaments to the boundless creativity of time spent in Claymation. When you are looking Vengeance Most Fowlor any stop-motion animated film, you are very aware that you are watching the culmination of years of effort, just like when you look at Gromit’s precious garden for the first time. That appreciation of effort and process is something that a fast Norbot or other AI could give, and Vengeance Most Fowl rightly wants to know that.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl hits Netflix on January 3rd.