Chicken Run

Review by Jason Donner

 Well, the British are in trouble again and it's up to the Americans to save the day again in Chicken Run, the latest visual thrill ride from Nick Park, creator of the Wallace and Gromit shorts.

This is one heck of a family movie. Grown up enough for adults and simple enough for the kids. Plus, unlike Dinosaur and Titan A.E., it's got all that counts... heart and passion and a drive that keeps the story interesting and moving. No cutesy singing animals or butt-numbing stupidity... just a sweet and moving story with sly humor and nice visuals.

I find it both ironic and amusing that the multi-million computer generated Dinosaur has been outclassed by an animated movie made almost entirely of stop-motion claymation. It's a testament to how the dazzle and look of a feature is nothing without content.

The film, which is like a strange amalgam of Looney Tunes and a prison movie, follows the plight of a group of British chickens striving to break out of the sinister 'Miss Tweedy's Farm', a setting which causes the unsettling recollection of the Nazi death camps portrayed in Shindler's List (how do we know they're British? Huge teeth!). The chickens are lead by the bright-eyed Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha) who believes that the grass is greener on the other side of the hill she stares at longingly every day through her prison's chicken-wire. Unfortunately, Ginger's lust for freedom isn't shared by the menagerie of colorful chicken costars who believe that escape is futile and they should just settle for a life of egg laying.

However, the evil Miss Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) wants out of the egg business and in to the pie business… the chicken pie business, therefore, she and Mr. Tweedy (Tony Haygarth) purchase hellish machine that painfully smashes and pulps chickens into pie filler. Now, escape for the chickens is a necessity and time is quickly running out.

Enter an apparent savor, Rocky the American Flying Rooster (Mel Gibson), who crashes on the chicken farm grounds and is immediately recruited by Ginger and the desperate hens to teach them to fly and escape life - of should I say death - as a tasty pastry (How do we know he's American? Big teeth!).

...waaaaaaaait a minute...

There aren't any pointless musical numbers, no singing animals, and no unnecessary cuteness. Chicken Run earns its merits from its memorable characters, its clever staging, and the heart and passion evident in the script. Unlike the previous stop-motion flicks I've seen in the past, Chicken Run, with it's sweeping camera shots, has a distinct cinematic feel to it.

So, don't cry fowl if you had your feathers ruffled by the blandness of Dinosaur or the sterility of Titan A.E.… run, don't bawk to Chicken Run! It's finger-lickin' good!