Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Parent Guide

Feathers McGraw has a long memory. Years ago, eccentric inventor, Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead), and his loyal canine sidekick, Gromit, thwarted the penguin’s brilliant plot to steal a famous diamond. The result was acclaim for Wallace and a life sentence in the zoo for Feathers McGraw. But now, Feathers just might have a shot at vengeance…

Wallace is enjoying media coverage for inventing Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), a robotic gnome programmed to enthusiastically fix up gardens and homes. But when Feathers sees the TV coverage and hacks into Norbot’s programming, the results are a gnome-led crime wave. Will Wallace take the blame? Will Feathers McGraw succeed in a second attempt to steal the fabled gem? Will the police figure it all out before Gromit cracks the case?

Frankly, none of the questions are terribly important - the fun in Wallace & Gromit films stems less from the script than the overall zany good cheer that pervades the tale. And Vengeance Most Fowl delivers all the expected elements: Wallace comes up with a crackpot invention, Gromit inexplicably remains loyal to his clueless human, sight gags abound, and there are jokes for viewers of all ages. For adults, the recurring James Bond Easter eggs are enough to make this movie worth watching.

Parents who aren’t familiar with the Wallace & Gromit franchise should probably watch previous films with their kids before settling down with this new flick. It’s not critical, but it will familiarize kids with Wallace’s weird world. Parents should also be aware that this film has moments of peril, some mild on-screen violence and an explosion. More unexpectedly, there’s a brief moment of buttock nudity when Wallace’s bathing routine shows him shooting out of his bathtub and through a waterslide that winds out of his house. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but it’s still there.

On the bright side, this production demonstrates the world-beating stop motion animation that put director Nick Park on the map with A Grand Day Out in 1989. Distinctive character design, meticulous sets, and non-stop visual jokes remain hallmarks of Aardman Productions and are on full display with this movie. Small details, like dust on an old tea kettle, are rendered as carefully as the stunning finale set on a soaring bridge. The technical skill is jaw-dropping and will keep adults enthralled even if the plot’s charms start to wane.

Now, it pains me to admit that Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl isn’t the best of the franchise. That honor goes to The Wrong Trousers, the film short in which Feathers McGraw makes his debut. But this movie sequel-baits at the end, so there’s always hope that the devious penguin will return to match wits with Wallace and Gromit. Fingers crossed.