A One Mann’s Movies review of “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” (2023).
Regular followers of this blog should know that stop-motion animation is not an art-form that I particularly appreciate. No, that’s not fair. I do APPRECIATE it, for being a painstaking technical process that creates an impressive moving image on the screen. But I find it difficult to get deeply involved in these types of movie. A lot of people raved about Del Toro’s “Pinnochio” from the start of the year, but – for me – while being a technical tour de force, the film overall left me a bit “meh”. For a stop-motion film to engage me, it really needs to make me laugh, And fortunately, Aardman’s latest – “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” – managed to do that multiple times.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
After their adventures of the past, Rocky (now Zachary Levi rather than Mel Gibson) and Ginger (now Thandiwe Newton rather than Julia Sawalha) have found true happiness on their sanctuary island. They even hatch a daughter, Molly (Bella Ramsey), who turns out to have the same adventurous and rebellious streak as her mother. When Molly goes off in search of adventure and ends up locked inside a futuristic chicken farm, her parents set out on an impossible mission to rescue her.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC web site: “Mild threat.”).
Talent:
Starring: Zachary Levi, Thandiwe Newton, Bella Ramsey, Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, David Bradley, Jane Horrocks, Romesh Ranganathan, Daniel Mays, Josie Sedgwick-Davies, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Mohammed, Miranda Richardson.
Directed by: Sam Fell.
Written by: Karey Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell & Rachel Tunnard. (From a story by Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’Farrell).
Twitter Handle: #chickenrun.
Running Time: 1h 41m.
Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) and Molly (Bella Ramsey) beginning to realise that Fun-land Farms is perhaps not the theme park paradise they first took it to be. (Source: Aardman Animations).
“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” Review:
Positives:
- It’s very fun. The film riffs off a number of other movies, notably “Mission Impossible”, but there is a distinctly “Star Wars” aspect to the uniforms and hardware deployed at Fun-land Farms (“Where Chickens Meet their Happy Ending”, LOL). And it was pointed to me (during our “Flickering Dreams” review of the film) that the zombie like chickens are where the pun title of “Dawn of the Nugget” might have come from… which makes sense!
- One of the stand-out laughs for me is where Molly and her new Liverpudlian friend Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) see the inner workings of the chicken farm for the first time. I read that the production of “Barbie” created a world shortage of pink fluorescent paint. Well, Aardman must have got in there early, since its a Barbiesque vision of fun and frolics for chickens of all ages. This really is a clever take on the whole concept of ‘free range’ farming taken to its logical conclusion with the ‘chosen one’ (“Ooooh, lucky ducky!” with shades of the Toy Story aliens) taking a final stairway to heaven!
- There is such an eclectic voice cast: it’s really fun picking out stars like Daniel Mays and thinking “I KNOW that voice, but from where??!”.
Negatives:
- A few of the characters fell a bit flat for me. David Bradley’s old-timer RAF chicken being an example.
- Arguably, the film borrowed, without parody, from a number of other films. For example, the ‘chickens on a conveyor belt’ scene feels pretty well lifted straight from the similar ‘furnace’ scene in “Toy Story 3”.
A big happy family. Rocky and Ginger with a newly hatched Molly. (Source: Aardman Animations)
Summary Thoughts on “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”
I know that many people view “Chicken Run” as a masterpiece and are loathe to watch this one for fear of dissapointment. But I don’t think they need avert their gaze. It’s obviously not as fresh as the original, and people will no doubt miss the original, and much-loved, original voiceover stars. But it’s a pretty decent family film. I watched it last night with two of my grandkids (6 and 9) and they enjoyed it, the 6 year old in particular.
“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” is available to stream on Netflix now.
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Trailer for “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Kz67kea8Q .
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