Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Film
After nearly two decades of absence, Wallace (Ben Whitehead) and Gromit are back with a bang in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. With machines to invent, cheese to eat, and mysteries to solve, the iconic claymation duo returns sharper (and funnier) than ever. As in their prior films, Nick Park's dynamic duo are politely hilarious, while the classic handcrafted visuals have Wallace and Gromit looking sharper than ever. Similar to last year's Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, Aardman Animations has fine tuned their animation style, curating an aesthetic that mirrors the simple wonders of their film's subjects. Wallace and Gromit continue to be delightful protagonists, finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances only to be solved by their kind ingenuity and love for one another. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl draws on decades of humor and heart to deliver an entertaining smash for an audience of all ages.
Park's latest foray into the world of Wallace & Gromit isn't a direct sequel to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, instead building upon the story from one of Park's short films, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers. Feathers McGraw, an extraordinarily antagonistic looking penguin, is apprehended for his attempted theft of the Museum's diamond, now, Wallace is able to continue his merry life of invention with his beloved dog Gromit. As Gromit toils in his garden—a delightful nod to the simple joys of manual labor—Wallace reveals his latest invention: the Norbot. A small robotic gnome who completes all tasks asked of it, including but not limited to, making things neat and tidy which doesn't bode well for Gromit's potpourri of flowers. But as Wallace's Norbot becomes more in demand with neighbors wanting his robotic gardening service, Gromit can't help but think there's something sinister behind Wallace's most recent invention.
Never mess with another man's garden, right?
Park's characters are as charming as their prior adventures, solving criminal cases with a good bit of circumstantial luck and a can-do attitude. The slapstick, silent humor of Feathers McGraw and Gromit is outstanding all the while both characters express profound emotion with relatively static faces. Claymation bits of sweat on McGraw or tears for Gromit are not only technically sound, but do wonders in elevating the emotional output of silent characters. Meanwhile, the delightfully absurd puns such as "Gnome Improvement" for Norbot, Onya Doorstep (Diane Morgan) as a local reporter, and more provide a light breeze of humor that hits hard. Especially paired with the tremendous stop-motion aesthetic.
While somewhat predictable, Park and co-writer Mark Burton have implemented enough twists and turns to create a much more rewarding story than initially expected. This isn't simply another Wallace and Gromit film but a modern take on the characters with more mature elements. Commentary on our dependence on technology and need to push artificial intelligence to the edge proves to be a great story from the perspective of an inventor. In the end, it’s not just the eccentric Wallace, the sharp-witted Gromit, or the dastardly penguin that steal the show—it’s the timeless reminder that no invention, no matter how advanced, can ever replace a good friend.
Froth
There's almost definitely a hierarchy of quintessentially British cinema characters. Do I want to be the one to list them all out? Absolutely not. But I'd love to highlight a few and mention that there really aren't many out there that have gripped multiple generations the way a certain duo has. Among the throes of fictional British pop culture icons, it'd undoubtedly contain Harry Potter, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Peppa Pig, Mary Poppins, Austin Powers, Jane Eyre, Gulliver and probably a handful or more that I can't possibly lay out (I admitted I didn't want to). But outside of all of these incredible characters, it's my humble opinion that Nick Park's Wallace & Gromit have captured the imagination of so many people across some thirty years now more than any other. Save me your Mary Poppins and James Bond pearl clutching. I’ll hear debates about Austin Powers, but the stop-motion duo has been in countless pictures, short form or feature length, and they've been undeniably magnetic. So of course, for an American such as I, to comment on British pop culture it would only make sense for me to pair a beer with the inventive combo's latest feature as an exceedingly British beer!
Luckily, the Machine House Brewery specializes in traditional British ales that are not only richly flavorful, but downright delightful. For Vengeance Most Fowl, their flagship Best Bitter is quintessentially British, and brimming with character. The brewery has it on cask so you can get the full experience in person, but even at home it’s well worth it. A solid copper color and off-white head give it the classic British bitter appearance, while the aroma of fresh wood and subtle malt rounds it out. Its 4.2% ABV is perfectly in line with tradition, and its taste goes beyond expectations. Notes of grassy freshness, sharp yet balanced bitterness, and a light floral essence create a symphony of subtle flavors that never overwhelm the palate.
