STARS: ****
DIRECTOR: Nick Park & Peter Lord
PRINCIPLE CAST:
Mel Gibson
Miranda Richardson
Julia Swalha
TAGLINE: Escape or die frying.
Every now and again we are introduced to an animated film that can entertain the entire family as well as go places where films have not gone before. Recently we had Titan A.E. that, though it had phenomenal animation, just did not fit this form of entertainment. Luckily, we were soon brought Chicken Run.
Chicken Run is the claymation film from the creators of Wallace and Grommit, which is a basic spoof/remake of the classic films Stalag 17 and The Great Escape. On Tweety Farm, the chicken that lays the least eggs is sentenced to death, so Ginger, head of Chicken House 17, constantly comes up with plans to free her and her cohorts. After many failures, she is introduced to Rocky the Flying Chicken, a runaway circus act who stumbles onto Tweety Farm, just in time to discover that the farmers have a new plan: forget the eggs, make chicken pies. So, we go through many humorous workout scenes and amusing characters which all lead up to a brilliant, well thought-out escape.
As with films like Babe and the Toy Story movies, what makes this film different is, it is family film for the whole family, not just children. There are enough jokes in the movie to give adults laughs while still being simple enough for little ones to understand, as well as touching moments to make you feel for the characters. Not to mention, it is a wonderful experience to see the brilliant claymation. This film is one of the best of the year and could actually end up with a Best Picture nomination, as well as a few other honors, around awards time.
