By Danielle Cherry
In the 17 years since Wallace and Gromit’s last appearance, animation has moved through both ultra-realism and stylization, with high-tech tools dominating the medium. Their newest film “A Vengeance Most Fowl” breathes an old-fashioned air into an over-saturated genre.
The greatest charm of the film is the characters’ personas. Wallace is an avid inventor, systemizing his entire life with the push of a button. Wallace sees change and advancement as exciting, whereas his faithful dog Gromit hangs onto the past.
Gromit is constantly annoyed by Wallace’s inventions, seeking solitude to read and enjoy his old-fashioned life. “A Vengeance Most Fowl” speaks to the question of whether technology truly helps us improve our way of life, or if it makes us robotic in our reliance on that very technology.
This tension is the hallmark of the movie. At its core the movie speaks to an ever growing issue: is technology good or evil? Wallace and Gromit represent opposite spectrums as well as the failure to understand others’ stances on the issue.
In an attempt to make Gromit’s life easier, Wallace creates a gardening robot named Norbot. Within five seconds, Norbot destroys and remakes Gromit’s beloved garden. He is horrified by the robot’s idea of tidiness, taking natural beauty and making it artificial. The neighborhood, on the other hand, is amazed by this wonderful technology that makes life so much easier. Before Gromit knows it, people are flocking to their garden, begging to hire out Norbot.
The story is meticulously written, tying into the previous films, despite their creation more than a decade ago. Feathers McGraw, a penguin disguised as a chicken, makes his foul return. As the title suggests, this masquerading penguin desires revenge for his thwarted crime in “The Wrong Trousers.”
Along with Feathers McGraw, the series’ classic slapstick humor makes its return. More than once I caught myself laughing out loud as ridiculous events flew across the screen. “Wallace and Gromit” is the gold star standard for situational humor. No matter what is going on, whether it is intended to be serious or not, the stakes and the characters make every moment hilarious.
“A Vengeance Most Fowl” is a bit deceptive in its appearance. The comedic exterior hides the sinister thriller/horror elements within the film. Everything seems lighthearted until, to Wallace’s surprise, his faithful Norbots turn on him. Gromit sees this coming from a mile away, like most of the audience, but is still unable to stop the crisis that ensues.
“A Vengeance Most Fowl” spans a wide range of genres, with the term comedy failing to describe every facet of the film. It’s an action, with characters’ lives hanging in peril, a mystery (unbeknownst to most of the characters) and a commentary, asking the viewer how much they rely on technology.
Making claymation look good is a difficult feat, and Aardman Animations does it with ease. The animators craft an extraordinary amount of detail into each character, set and prop. The fingerprints of the makers are all over the figures, making them come alive instantaneously.
Even though this film utilizes an old-fashioned style, it speaks about modern-day issues. It made me question the impact that AI and technology are having on our world. Everyone has seen films where AI takes over, but often they fail to address why we let them take over.
“Vengeance Most Fowl” depicts our human desire for ease. Every day Wallace calls for Gromit to get him out of bed by pushing a button and letting everything be done automatically. Wallace created the Norbot solely to make his life easier.
Gromit, on the other hand, is determined to not let technology take over his life and desires to do things on his own.
The title “A Vengeance Most Fowl” speaks about Feathers Mcgraw, but there is an alternate meaning. The technology we use can suck away our time and our ability to think for ourselves, and that is a really vengeful thing. There are many potential takeaways from the film, but personally, I am reworking my New Year’s resolution from “use less technology” to “take on the mindset of a dog.”
“A Vengeance Most Fowl” is currently streaming on Netflix
Danielle Cherry is a freshman Communications major and writer for Cedars A&E and Sports. She is a Missionary Kid from Germany and loves a good cup of coffee.
Images courtesy of Aardman Animations.
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