QUOTE: "This is the most enjoyable animated film I have seen all year, and that's a tall order to fill."
There is something undeniably endearing about stop-motion animation. The process is lengthy and painstaking, but produces such unique results. The characters move in their own begrudging way, and in the case of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, you can even see the fingerprints of the filmmakers in close-ups of the characters. This is literally a labor of love unveiled before our very eyes.
Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and Gromit have a dedicated cult following, but this film is my first venture into the duo's hijinks. Wallace is a resourceful old bird; always coming up with wacky inventions and ideas. His mute dog, Gromit, is always by his side.
In "Were-Rabbit," Wallace and Gromit run the Anti-Pesto pest control business. Their small town in England is right smack in the middle of a vegetable growing contest, so the residents are extra weary of vegetable-ravaging animals, particularly rabbits. Wallace seems to have some pretty satisfied customers. The greenhouses he constructs are completely secure, with one even requiring a remote control unlocking device to open a la today's modern vehicles. Enter the "were-rabbit," however; a beast that can ingest entire gardens in a matter of seconds. Wallace and Gromit begin to investigate.
Along the way Wallace meets Lady Campanula Tottington (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter, whose voice has been popular this year), the hostess of the competition. The two experience an attraction of sorts, but Lady Tottington's current significant other, the snobby and rabbit-murdering Victor Quartermaine (voiced by Ralph Fiennes), will see none of that. Can Wallace and Gromit save the competition from this veggie-loving beast?
"Were-Rabbit" has something for everyone. Every form of comedy is on display, from slapstick to the most subtle of sight gags. The writing team of Bob Baker, Steve Box, Mark Burton, and Nick Park have constructed a story loaded with creativity, charm, and a whole lot of smarts. The puns are spot on and the characters are appropriately over-the-top, particularly Victor. The unwritten rule that all animated films must provide some risqué humor for the parents is abided to, with a gag toward the end that had me doubled over.
The characters of Wallace and Gromit are among the most immediately likeable I have ever seen onscreen. Wallace is someone we can all identify with; a sweet oldtimer with the heart of a child. He gets so excited about his Rube Goldberg-like inventions. Gromit, although mute, is equally expressive as he does his best to just play along with Wallace's crazy antics. I had a fear in the back of my mind that the film would operate like The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy; you are either in or out, with no stretching room. It's quite the contrary, as those who are new to the adventures of Wallace and Gromit can jump right in.
"Were-Rabbit" is a celebration of old-school animation with a refreshingly creative story and characters. This is the most enjoyable animated film I have seen all year, and that's a tall order to fill.
By: Bill Clark (http://www.fromthebalcony.com)
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 3
WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT is from the people who brought you CHICKEN RUN. But, where CHICKEN RUN, with its great script, was clever, this first full-length movie featuring Wallace and Gromit relies almost exclusively on sight gags for its laughs. In small doses, Wallace and Gromit are great and have Academy Awards to testify to their accomplishments, but stretching their silly antics to 85 minutes is asking too much of these cartoon characters. Our audience, packed with kids, fidgeted a lot and took frequent bathroom breaks. They laughed a lot, but mainly at the short shown before the feature film. It starred the four penguins from MADAGASCAR in A CHRISTMAS CAPER, and our little viewers loved it.
Don't get me wrong. I like the crazy inventor named Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his canine companion Gromit, who never speaks since he doesn't even have a mouth. All of the characters, as they were in CHICKEN RUN as well, are done with some amazing stop-action claymation. Gromit, who uses his eyes to express his feelings, is an adorable scene stealer.
As you can guess from the title, the plot involves a were-wolf, or more precisely a were-rabbit. We also learn there are were-cows, but I digress. The gothic humor is a bit unusual for a kids' movie but is never scary. The plot also has other stories thrown in as well, most notably KING KONG.
When we meet our fearless heroes, they are running a humane pest control company called "Anti-Pesto." With the big vegetable competition coming up in the village, Wallace and Gromit are constantly awakened by vegetable garden burglar alarms going off to signal that some gardener is having a problem with a rogue rabbit. Using a device that looks like a cross between a ten-foot tall aquarium and a bagless vacuum cleaner, Wallace and Gromit suck up the rabbits and then release them when they get home.
In a FRANKENSTEIN-like moment, Wallace attempts to brainwash a rabbit into never craving a carrot ever again. Of course, the experiment goes bad, with the upshot being the birth of a rabbit the size of a bus, but this monster only comes out when there's a full moon. It's all actually less funny than it sounds, making one crave the time when Wallace and Gromit return to their real homeland, the world of animated shorts.
WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT runs too long at 1:25. It is rated G and would be acceptable for all ages.
My nephew William, age 11, liked the stinky cheese scene the best, while his sister Liana, age 8, liked the purse episode the best. They both said the movie was funny, but, on the way home, all they talked about was the short before the movie and how funny it was. (When the warm-up act outdoes the main feature, you know that something's amiss.)
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, October 7, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
By: Steve Rhodes (http://www.InternetReviews.com)
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