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A
CLUCKING GOOD TIME...
Written
by Dean
Kish
Edited
by Thomas
Chau
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Premise:
: Having been hopelessly repressed and facing eventual
certain death at the chicken farm where they are
held, Rocky the rooster and Ginger the chicken decide
to rebel against the evil Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy, the
farm's owners. Rocky and Ginger lead their fellow
chickens in a great escape from the murderous farmers
and their farm of doom. |
Overall
Rating:
Rated G
The
creators of the British animated classic "Wallace
and Gromit" bring their magic to a full length
feature.
It's
an ingenious little adventure that follows the hopes
and dreams of a chicken named Ginger (Julia Sawalha).
Her dream is to escape Mrs. Tweedy's chicken farm. She
claims she can do it on her own but what bewilders her
is that she is afraid for all her fellow fowl within
the coop. So their plan focuses upon all of them in
one huge jail-break. Ginger's prayers seem to be answered
when a "flying" rooster named Rocky (Mel Gibson)
drops into the coop after escaping a traveling circus.
Meanwhile Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) develops
a plan to turn her little farm into a massive "chicken
pot pie" factory forcing Ginger and Rocky to teach
all the others to fly before they become pies.
What
makes "Chicken Run" so ingenious was how the
animators made us want to be apart of the chicken world.
We fall head over heals involved with these chickens
and their daily lives. Coupled with that involvement,
"Chicken Run" also cleverly delivers us into
a "prison breakout" movie filled with humor,
and excitement. "Chicken Run" is a pure delight.
For
many people this will be their first experimentation
with a full length animated feature involving clay.
The clay for me helps reflect the tones and dimensions
of the characters. In some ways I think it aids a lot
in the audience's involvement in the chicken world.
Placing
aside the claymation and those magnificent machines,
"Chicken Run" also brings back a lot of classic
Hollywood moments in the films setting. There are scenes
which remind us a lot of the classic World War 2 prison
movies. Films like the "Great Escape", "Stalag
17" and even the misadventures of "Hogan's
Heroes". What I liked about those film references
here is that they weren't here to poke fun at the films
but to pay homage. The references also aid the audience
in diving deeper into the film and its delight.
If
you remember "Wallace and Gromit" then you
may recall all their huge machines which helped enchant
their everyday lives. From the rocket-ship to the sheep
shearing machine, "Chicken Run" has these
kinds of machines which have always amazed me in their
transformation and assembly. How do they dream up these
wondrous machines?
(4.5
of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.
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(C)
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