679. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)

Starring: Peter Sallis, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes

Director: Nick Park, Steve Box

Running Time: 85 mins

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit is a British film about the Anti-Pesto team of Wallace and his dog Gromit who set out to discover and defeat the mysterious menace that is threatening to have the annual vegetable competition called off.

Well, there’s no doubting the historic genius of Aardman. Chicken Run was a lot of fun, and the original three Wallace & Gromit shorts, and even A Matter Of Loaf And Death, are absolute classics, but this strange feature adaptation doesn’t come anywhere near the heights of those originals.

Obviously, there’s no faulting the animation here. Aardman, before the disaster that was Flushed Away, were infallible in their plasticine stop-motion animation, and once again, that animation gives the film a wacky and fun atmosphere that’s enjoyable and impressive for anyone to watch.

Also, the two main characters are still pretty good. While I didn’t think that Wallace was as strong in this film as the shorts, Gromit was at his best, and he was definitely the major driving force in this film linking it back to the great times of the originals.

However, the story is very poor. Again, the originals were so good because they were all about the inventions of Wallace & Gromit, and they had a very imaginative and unique feel to them, whereas this production is like a big-money blockbuster designed for Hollywood, with a much dumber and more action-oriented plot, quite a big disappointment in my opinion.

Also, the comedy is a lot weaker in the film. Yes, there are still quite a few, lower-key jokes that do make you laugh a lot, but the main big gags are just never as funny as they should be to make it a properly enjoyable film, and that was the other major disappointment for me.

Overall, this gets a 7.0, because while it does have some elements linking back to the originals, it’s a very Americanised and watered-down film that doesn’t compare to the classics.