Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget Parent Guide

After escaping from Tweedy’s chicken farm in the previous film, Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and her flock have found an island paradise where they can live without fear of being eaten. Adventure and peril are never far away and Ginger and Rocky’s (Zachary Levi) young daughter, Molly (Bella Ramsey) seems to have her mom’s adventurous spirit and longs to explore the world outside the island. When Molly’s adventuring goes too far, Ginger, Rocky, and the gang will have to leave their paradise to save her - and all of chicken-kind too.

Chicken Runis a childhood favorite of mine. Coincidentally, I showed it to my son a few weeks ago, before I knew I’d be reviewing the sequel. Having not seen it in years, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well it holds up, both the writing and animation, and is still as hilarious as I remembered. With my memory of the Aardman Animation classic fresh in my mind, I sat down to the sequel, anxious to see what quality might be expected now that Netflix is involved. Luckily for me, it seems that the 23-year gap was a good thing, as Dawn of the Nugget almost lives up to the heights of its predecessor.

I would not say this film is as good as the original. Sequels rarely are. The story isn’t as tight, the pacing is a bit off, and it’s not as funny as it could have been. Some characters, like Fowler (David Bradley), are reduced to their simplest character traits, resulting in some repetitive bits and jokes. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the movie. The above issues are relatively minor, and most audiences won’t even notice my nitpicks. The heightened stakes, fun heist antics, and delightful characters more than make up for some minor story problems.

With messages about bravery, family, and teamwork and only minor levels of negative content, Dawn of the Nugget is a great choice for family audiences. Children are sure to enjoy the colorful adventure and parents will appreciate Aardman’s signature dry British wit. Just don’t be surprised when your children express an interest in vegetarianism after watching their favorite chickens almost get turned into dinner.