Wallace and Gromit gets an unnecessary modernisation
Film review
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl kicks off with a pleasant hit of nostalgia as the all-familiar theme tune kicks in. The pleasantry continues as Wallace’s in-house inventions assist the pair during their morning routine. Wallace gets thrown into the bathtub within milliseconds of having his clothes removed. At breakfast, we’re reintroduced to the gadget that flings jam at a piece of toast that pops into mid-air. However, this sweet nostalgia only goes so far as the world of Wallace & Gromit undergoes a modernisation that makes you wish you were re-engaging with the three original tales that defined the franchise rather than experiencing something fresh just for the sake of it.
Vengeance Most Fowl follows the events of The Wrong Trousers (1993) as Feathers McGraw is sentenced to prison, or in this case a zoo, for stealing a diamond from a city museum. Gromit’s sweet release from the poison brought by Feathers is soon disturbed as Wallace invents a smart gnome named Norbot (voiced by Reece Shearsmith). Like when Feathers was first brought into the household, Norbot manages to out-dominate Gromit’s presence as his technical abilities prove he can do just about anything around the garden and in the house. Once Wallace’s new invention gets press attention, Feathers McGraw gets wind of the pair's success and remotely hacks into the programming abilities of Norbot to rewire him into a mode which turns the smart gnome into a force for evil rather than one of good.
While creator Nick Park introduces new additions to the world of Wallace & Gromit, he relies too heavily on entertaining the audience through nostalgia to the extent that true originality doesn’t exist in this particular tale. He pretty much replicates the scene from The Wrong Trousers in which Feathers McGraw uses a long-hand invention to steal the museum diamond, but this time he’s using a familiar gadget to hack into a computer guarded by a sleeping prison officer. The same beats exist as they did in the original scene but with comedy outperforming the tension. Modern technological gags are thrown in as Feathers uses the all too familiar ‘verify your identity’ process we’ve all run into when accessing certain sites. Feathers must select all the images that classify as cheese. One of these pictures is the moon, referencing A Grand Day Out (1989), which Feathers selects, granting him access.
The gags continue, in which a news station called Up North News introduces a reader called Anton Deck. Do you get it? To add to the hilarity, one of the reporters is named Onya Doorstep. There’s a whole bunch of other gags in the film, and while some provoke a laugh out of you from time to time, it feels too comedic, to the point in which the creators rely on it too heavily to give the audience a reason to stick around.
Vengeance Most Fowl may present itself as a revenge tale, and on the surface it is, but really it puts its efforts into commentating on the dangers of artificial intelligence. The commentary can sometimes be too much on the nose, such as when Wallace says lines such as “It’s like he knows what we need before we do ourselves” and “as long as it knows who's boss of course”. When Wallace sees the true evils of the advanced technology he’s responsible for creating, he pleads “I just wanted to make things that would help people”. As you take this all in, you can’t help but wonder why we need this kind of commentary in a Wallace & Gromit film.
The heavy reliance on nostalgia, the overbearing use of gags, and now with the introduction of current commentary, Vengeance Most Fowl is Wallace & Gromit’s most complex tale yet. Too many characters, and too much going on. It then reaches dramatic heights during its third act as if we’re watching a Hollywood blockbuster. This is where they attempt to provoke an emotional reaction from the audience, but it feels manufactured.
Wallace & Gromit thrives best at simplicity. There’s nothing subtle or simple regarding Vengeance Most Fowl. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit just about gets away with it. I don’t want a rehash from the past or to be served gag-inducing comedy. I especially don’t want to be given a lecture through the vehicle of contemporary commentary. Vengeance Most Fowl is set to make its television debut on the BBC on Christmas day. Your time would probably be better spent revisiting the short-and-sweet classics that demonstrate examples of storytelling that have stood the test of time, engraving their presence into the minds of multiple generations. And if you do take my advice, choose the perfect Wallace & Gromit film, A Grand Day Out. Following ever so closely by The Wrong Trousers.
Out in UK cinemas now