If God ever needed evidence that humanity is more than just an
experiment gone horribly wrong, our salvation would be three words:
Wallace And Gromit. Sure, we've cut down 80% of the world's rain
forests for hamburgers, and sure we have Nazis and Ford Expeditions
and Kenny G records... but we can't be all bad. We also make claymation.
"Chicken Run" is a full-length feature film from Nick Park and Peter Lord, the very people who brought us the incomparable "Wallace and Gromit" series. "Chicken Run" has different new characters, but W&G aficionados will be happy to know that it has exactly the same flair for quirky characters, mechanical extravagance and spectacular adventure. Put simply, your highest expectations will be met in "Chicken Run". It starts with some clever spoofs of "The Great Escape", but needless to say, it quickly adds many twists of its own.
Mel Gibson does the voice of Rocky the Rooster, and, forgive the pun, he's much more animated than usual. It's nice to see (or at least hear) him take a break from being Sylvester Stallone and ham it up and have a bit of fun, for a change. Julia Sawalha is charming and likable as Ginger, the chicken with a vision.
I happily bestow this film my "please give it your money" award. I think that Jim Carrey and George Clooney won't have too much trouble coming up with a budget for their next projects, but the Park / Lord team could surely use your movie ticket vote. This is one creative team for who it can be said that the world is a better place for their creations.