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Chicken Run
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The Film :
I guess I speak for everyone who's seen this film, when saying how
surprisingly good it is. Among all the films with snazzier computer
effects and more modern animation techniques than "claymation"
(stop motion animation of characters made of clay), it didn't seem like
this film could succeed. As it turns out, this is one of the most
hilarious films I've seen so far this year, and quite possibly the best
comedy of the year as a whole.
The opening sets the mood nicely, as you see numerous failed attempts
by the trapped chickens to leave the farm where they are held prisoners.
Miss Tweedy, the owner of the farm, is a villainous woman who treats her
farm as a jail for the chickens, and even decides to chop off the head of
any chicken that doesn't lay their quota in eggs. As the opening credits
roll, you see numerous laugh-a-minute attempts by the chickens to escape
the farm, none of which are successful.
One morning, a rooster comes flying into the farmland from the sky!
Seeing Rocky the Rooster (voiced by Mel Gibson) confirms the dreams of
Ginger, the most adventurous of the chickens; she's convinced that they
could all be taught how to fly out the chicken farm, if only Rocky could
teach them how! Rocky reluctantly agrees, though claims that his wing was
broken during the crash, and will need time to heal. Can Rocky help the
chickens escape, by flying over the fence? He'd better; Miss Tweedy has
decided to make the whole farm into a chicken pie company...the
chickens will all soon be doomed!
The remainder of the film is hilarious, as Rocky decides to find a way,
somehow, to make the chickens fly over the fence. Sure, as we all know, Roosters
can't fly, although Rocky doesn't want Ginger to find that out, too
soon! Along the way, Rocky gets some help from two rats, who agree to help
him get the tools he requests, as long as he promises to give them some of
his eggs (no, roosters don't lay eggs, either). Rocky is a bit of a
swindler, and yet he seems to be developing a crush on Ginger, leading to
him eventually doing the right thing...and leading to a really fun,
family-friendly finale.
Kudos must go to this film's creators, who also contribute to the cult
classic, Wallace & Gromit claymation series. In Chicken
Run they've created a true phenomenon; one that shows that the
world of clay animation is far from dead. All it needs is a good story to
tell, and this is definitely such a story. This might very well be a good
lesson to Hollywood, of how much more important a film's story is,
compared to multi-million dollar FX. If there's any lesson to be learned
in Chicken Run, let's hope that's the one Hollywood listens to.
The DVD :
Widescreen claymation: cool! seriously, this is one claymation film given
all the respect it deserves on DVD : widescreen anamorphic format, DTS
surround sound, Dolby Surround Sound, closed captioning for the hearing
impaired, and even a commentary track, by directors Nick Park and Peter
Lord.
There are added bonus materials as well.
Two featurettes come from both HBO and NBC. Each is amusing in its own
way. In addition, kids will enjoy the story as told to them in a
Read-along text style. However, in truth the best draw for the DVD is the
film itself, which has to be one of the best films of the year, regardless
of the epics that will undoubtedly steal all the awards away.
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