Wallace and Gromit Are As Charming and Delightful As Ever In ‘Vengeance Most Fowl’

In times of darkness, we look for the heroes, and there was no saviour we needed more at the end of 2024 than a bald amateur inventor and his weary but loyal beagle. Aardman Animation’s iconic duo Wallace and Gromit returned to the world of movies for the first time since 2005’s The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. BBC and Netflix’s joint production premiered on UK TV on Christmas Day, becoming the second-most-watched broadcast in the country since 2022, and now our American friends can check it out from the comfort of their own homes. You should do it. This film is, as expected, cracking.

Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead following the death of Peter Sallis) is looking for ways to make life more convenient for him and his beloved pooch. What could be better than a robotic garden gnome named Norbot (a demented Reese Shearsmith) who can speedily clear up people’s gardens and make everything neat and tidy? Gromit’s not amused, but a stranger from their past sees a way to exact revenge against the pair. That’s right, the world’s most dastardly penguin is back. Feathers McGraw is breaking out of prison and getting his hands on the diamond that put him behind bars in the first place.

The intrinsic appeal of the Wallace and Gromit world has always been its cozy Britishness. There’s a homey simplicity to this iconic pair, perhaps the closest thing the UK has to Mickey Mouse in terms of beloved iconography. Their adventures are not sought out by them but rather the end result of some relatable befuddlements gone awry. Vengeance Most Fowl is no exception. It’s all so delightfully British, laden with puns and regionalisms that viewers will be investigating over many a rewatch: the newsreader’s name being Anton Deck, the rivalry between Yorkshire and Lancashire, Gromit’s record collection including the canine world’s version of Lou Reed (which I have a lot of questions for.) And cheese, of course. Let’s not forget the cheese. Directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham have not muddled with their tried-and-proven formula, keeping things simple but jam-packed with charm.

Their smartest move was in bringing back Featers McGraw, the villainous jewel thief in chicken disguise whose ruse was thwarted by the pair (but mostly Gromit.) He’s spent years languishing in a zoo, picking up litter and counting down the days until he can get his vengeance on his captors. Did you ever watch Cape Fear and wish it was adorable? That’s the vibe here, although Feathers remains a fascinatingly unnerving figure. It’s amazing how much character the animators have wrung out of this figure, who has no mouth and is as simply shaped as a milk bottle. His silent scheming makes him an ideal foil for Gromit, one of the medium’s great physical comedians. One raise of his brow as he watches Wallace create yet another hare-brained invention is more emotive than most human actors I know. This is the Sherlock/Moriarty battle we deserve.

The heart of it all, of course, is still the love between the title pair. Let’s be honest: Gromit can do better than Wallace. His faithful human companion is nice but dim and gets carried away with his own nonsense, which in this case is a robot gnome that practically radiates ‘I’m going to turn evil soon’ energy. While the series has largely avoided any sense of modernity, keeping its setting and characters in a sort of timeless late-20th-century kind of rural England, there are some pointed themes regarding contemporary technology. Amid the great gags about captcha boxes and computer hacking is a weariness regarding Wallace’s endless tinkering.

His Rube Goldberg machines, which get him out of bed then wash him then put jam on his toast, are fun enough but his efficient gnome’s version of the perfect garden is the same soulless pattern for every household. There’s nothing like the human/canine touch, and if any company is best suited to make that assertion, it’s the kings of stop-motion. It remains a genuine joy to see the thumbprints on characters’ faces. Even with this seamless and kinetic display, so elegantly put together, you never forget that it takes a whole day of production to make four seconds of animation.

This is the first feature-length film for Wallace and Gromit since 2005, a series that is mostly made up of 30 minute shorts. This is still only 79 minutes long, but that in-between running-time does leave things feeling a touch baggy. Some moments are more talky than necessary, particularly with the police officers, voiced by Peter Kay and Lauren Patel. But it all comes together for one hell of a third act. Much in the same way that the last climax we had with Feathers was inspired by classic cinema car chases, Vengeance Most Fowl goes full Mission: Impossible, with a dash of The Italian Job with its canal boat race.

Would the film have been more effective as a short? Maybe, but how can you turn down the chance to spend more time with these characters and this beautifully rendered world? This is slow cinema that cannot and shouldn’t be replicated by quicker means. It’s worth waiting years for, especially since it invites you to rewatch it over and over just to get all of the tiny details they hoped you’d spot. Start your 2025 off properly with a true gem that appreciates why loving imperfection is what truly matters.

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is available to watch on Netflix in the USA and BBC iPlayer in the UK.