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Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

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MediumKids
LightTeens
LightAdults
wallace and gromit vengeance most fowl

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Paul Asay
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Movie Review

In the annals of criminal crimedom, few can match the notoriety of Feathers McGraw.

In 1993, the penguin—skillfully disguised as a chicken by slapping a red rubber glove on his head—nearly completed a daring robbery of the world-famous Blue Diamond. He hijacked the robotic trousers of a local inventor (while said inventor was still in said trousers), broke into a museum and took the diamond, seemingly capping a criminal career that few penguins could match.

And he would’ve gotten away with it, too, had not the inventor, Wallace, and his surprisingly clever dog, Gromit, not foiled his getaway and sent him to the slammer. (That is, the local zoo.)

But Feathers is a patient penguin. He has never forgotten how close he was to claiming the fabled Blue Diamond for his own. And he’s never forgiven Wallace & Gromit for crushing his dastardly dreams.

Day by day, year by year, the sinister waterfowl plotted and planned. When opportunity knocked, Feathers would be ready to throw open the cage door.

And then, opportunity arrives—wearing a red pointed hat.

Its name is Norbot. And it is, simply, the most helpful automated garden gnome one could envision. Or so says its inventor, Wallace.

“I’d say he’s my greatest invention so far!” he tells a news crew, and so it would seem. Norbot can cut your grass. He can cut your hedges. He can cut your flowers down to wee nubbins. And while that might not be to everyone’s taste (certainly not Gromit’s), there’s no question that if you prefer your garden to look like a preschool chart of shapes, Norbot’s your guy. An anchorman gushes that Norbot is truly “cutting hedge technology,” and soon Wallace unveils a new business: Gnome Improvements.

“See how embracing technology makes our lives better?” Wallace tells Gromit.

Feathers sees. Oh, yes. Far away in his cold zoo cell, he sees. All he needs to do is remotely reprogram Norbot, transforming the robotic gnome into the ultimate manifestation of AI evil. Then, surely, the penguin’s diabolical, unstoppable scheme will be well underway. Wallace will be none the wiser until it’s too late. And Gromit? Well, the dog is clever, to be sure, but he’s no match for an evil garden gnome.

Yes, if Feathers McGraw ever spoke, you could guarantee he’d be summoning up his most evil laugh right about … now.


Positive Elements

Certainly anyone who dares stand in the way of Feathers deserves a great deal of credit. Gromit is, of course, the first to suspect that Norbot isn’t quite the innocent little hedge trimmer he seems. And Wallace—eventually—also tries to end Feathers’ reign of terror.

But the inventive pair receive help from other quarters, too. When a series of home- and garden-related burglaries breaks out and suspicion falls on Wallace, the enthusiastic Police Constable Mukherjee suggests the case may not be as straightforward as all that.

And let’s not be too hard on ol’ Norbot. When his programming is set to “good,” he’s nice enough—even if he is a little overly enthusiastic with those hedge trimmers.

Spiritual Elements

Feathers disguises himself as a nun. Which, ironically, also sums up the rest of the spiritual content we see here: none.

Sexual & Romantic Content

One of Wallace’s inventions involves machines launching him into a bathtub (where he’s promptly scrubbed and cleaned) and sending him through a clear winding tube, where his clothes wait at its terminus point. As we see Wallace careen through this contraption, we spot a bit of his clay, cartoonish rear-end.

When Feathers’ nun disguise is removed, he covers his non-existent privates with his wings.

Gromit likes to wear dainty garden hats when he’s gardening. (But it feels like it’s meant to feel silly, not suggestive, and we should remind readers that Gromit once fell for a female poodle named Fluffles in the short film “A Matter of Loaf and Death.”)

Violent Content

Norbot’s enthusiastic gardening nearly leads to Gromit’s toes being severed. (His gardening shoes, however, are a complete loss.) Police prepare to use a battering ram on a front door. A climactic chase leads to a great deal of cartoonish (but essentially harmless) violence and explosions.

A gnome is punched off a ledge. Another is flattened. Several are smacked and thrown around. A penguin issues a hard slap to the face. Banana peels prove to be a slippery scourge. Wallace runs into a vegetable cart. A motorcycle crashes through a fence.

One other note here: Even before Norbert turns evil, the garden gnome looks seriously creepy. And after he and his compatriots go bad? Well, in the realm of kids’ movies with surprisingly frightening elements, the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz may have a bit of company.

Crude or Profane Language

Chief Inspector Mackintosh utters the f-word fill-in “flipping” several times during the movie. Other than that, the worst phrases we hear include “Good grief!” and “What the dickens?” and “Butter me crumpets!”

One other note: We hear a few jokes related to rain-gathering containers, which are called “water butts” in England.

Drug & Alcohol Content

None.

Other Noteworthy Elements

A crime wave breaks out in Wallace’s village, where many a household and garden tool are pilfered for various sundry reasons. When Chief Inspector Mackintosh zeroes in on Wallace as the criminal culprit, Mukherjee suggests that they really should get some evidence first. “All these fancy ideas you get from training college,” Mackintosh sighs, before acquiescing to her suggestion.

A bathroom tent is knocked asunder, revealing a guy sitting on a toilet reading a newspaper.

The movie is filled with a great deal of subterfuge.

Conclusion

Wallace has invented plenty of gizmos over the years, from a banana gun to a “Knit-o-Matic,” which automatically (and carefully) shears a sheep before knitting its wool into a sweater. But perhaps his greatest contribution to the world isn’t his inventions but his films.

Check out the Wallace & Gromit catalog on Rotten Tomatoes—both its movies and its shorts—and you’ll see a steady stream of perfect, 100% “freshness” ratings, critical acclaim that perhaps only the Toy Story franchise can rival. Indeed, the franchise bottoms out at 95% with 2005’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. But that film’s directors, Nick Park and Steve Box, could boost their spirits with the Oscar the movie received for the year’s Best Animated Feature.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl returns the animated duo to RT’s vaunted 100% territory. And while Plugged In often disagrees with secular critical consensus, in this case, we might join in the applause.

Vengeance Most Fowl (helmed by Park and Merlin Crossingham) is not as perfect as Rotten Tomatoes might suggest. Some crude humor and a bit of Claymation backside might give some parents pause. And yeah, those gnomes? Very young and/or sensitive viewers might find Norbot and his red-capped cohorts just a little too creepy for comfort.

But for most viewers—both child and adult—Vengeance Most Fowl is a delight. It’s witty, silly and ever-so-much fun. It’s broad enough to charm your standard 5-year-old and clever enough to reward eagle-eyed viewers. (My favorite blink-and-you-missed-it moment: A sign in a gnome construction site that reads, “Pointy hats must be worn at all times.”)

And honestly, it comes with a rather light but important message on technology, too. It can be great! “So long as it knows who’s boss, of course,” Wallace says. And it reminds us that tech, no matter how marvelous, can’t do everything for you. Patting your loyal, quietly brilliant dog on the head, for instance, should be a strictly human endeavor.

The Wallace & Gromit adventures began way back in 1989 with A Grand Day Out. Which, in dog years, would make Gromit about 140 years old. But he’s still quite spry in Vengeance Most Fowl, and the movie feels fresh, fun and—mostly—clean. And that’s worth a nice slice of cheese.


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Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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