Movie Review - Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

 

I'll kick this off by saying that I do understand reasons why characters have to be recast. There are some genuinely good reasons like if a person has been in trouble and found guilty (or in the public eye, is guilty), the original actor isn't alive any more or the voice sounds very different to how it was when they did it last time. I get Rocky and I get Fowler's recasting. The rats I will let it slide because the original two actors have done less comedic roles recently (well Timothy Spall has at least, don't know about the other one) and were probably not too interested in returning, which is fair enough. But I am with everyone when they question why Julia Sawalha was recast because while there may be a slight difference in voice, she otherwise sounds exactly the same as she did when she first voiced Ginger all those years ago. There's no wrong in getting Thandiwe Newton, but it still puzzles me as to why she was recast and Aardman aren't really giving us good reasons why with many believing it's them being agist which the company for as long as I have known them, isn't usually like that. But the film industry can be like it to some people, and it's clearly affected them too, which may not be a good thing in the long run. Regardless, this is them doing what they do best, so let's see how this NOT DREAMWORKS film sequel plays out:

The chickens, that were formally owned by Tweedy farm, have found their new home and have made it into a sanctuary for them all. Ginger (voiced by Newton this time for some reason) and Rocky (voiced this time by Zachary Levi) now have a daughter, which they call Molly (voiced by Bella Ramsey). Molly has an interest in the outside world, which her parents try to hide and protect her from, but her curiosity gets the better of her when a van that's advertising some kind of theme park for chickens, goes past. With her gone to a new place, Ginger and Rocky rally the chickens and the rats to go save her, especially when an old enemy, returns for revenge.

This sequel to the otherwise fantastic turn of the new millennium film (also Aardman's very first feature film), it's alright. It's got the British humour that Aardman are known for as well as the iconic looks that Nick Park established all those years ago, and the new cast are mostly not too distracting with their voices for the characters that were recast. It's got wit and is a little silly in places and maybe parts were played a little too safe, especially as the first managed to get away with so much in addition to being quite a dark film literally and in its themes. But for what it is, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it and anything Aardman do, I always find enjoyment in them. This isn't one of their strongest films, nor do I think it beats the original. But I will say that it's good to see these chickens again because they are always fun to watch, and I did have fun watching this, despite feeling that it could've gone a few more steps further. I also suspect that there was a piece of LGBTQ context with Molly and another young chicken that we see. So Aardman aren't completely bias in that sense, I guess. 8/10