Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl continues the story of everyone’s favorite British claymation duo: Wallace (Ben Whitehead), an absent-minded, aloof inventor; and Gromit, his faithful canine companion and constant voice of reason who perpetually keeps Wallace alive despite himself. Unfortunately, Wallace’s affinity for inventing has landed the pair into massive debt and the bill is coming due. Ignoring the problem, Wallace instead creates a smart garden gnome robot called Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), designed to assist Gromit with his gardening, but rather is more a nuisance than help. However, in this exercise Wallace realizes that he can utilize this helper robot to assist the community and make some cash while he’s at it.
One night, Gromit—fed up with Norbot encroaching on every inch of his space—moves him downstairs and plugs him into the computer to charge. This comes to the attention of Feathers McGraw, an evil penguin who Wallace and Gromit put behind bars, who is serving out his prison sentence at a local zoo. Feathers logs into the prison’s computer system and hacks into Wallace’s computer, setting the gnome to “evil” mode. He commands Norbot to create even more gnomes, which he employs to help him escape prison, so he can enact his vengeance upon the duo.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is simply delightful. Despite being released in 2025 and having technology that streamlines production, the film feels timeless from the story to the animation. If you didn’t know any better, you’d be unsure whether this film was made in the 90s or today, which is a plus.
The handcrafted, imperfect stop-motion animation feels like a warm, cuddly childhood blanket (you can see the animator’s fingerprints on the plasticine puppets in some scenes, which is utterly charming). The animation itself is smooth and fluid. There are a few moments when CGI effects are used—water, fire, and explosions—and those effects are slightly distracting to a more trained eye. Though most viewers wouldn’t bat an eyelash at these scenes.
The story is simple yet impactful and is able to successfully straddle quite a few genres from comedy and drama to action and heist. There are so many subtly funny moments, gags, puns that will make you laugh out loud (which is such a shame that this movie wasn’t able to be enjoyed in the theater with an audience). With a plethora of Easter eggs, you’ll immediately want to rewatch the film just so you can catch what clever gems you missed upon first viewing.
The cast of characters is small, yet potent. Wallace is never-changing with his dimwitted love of cheese and inventions. However, ironically, it’s the characters that don’t talk who have the biggest impact and steal the show. Gromit is highly intelligent and able to convey a thousand words with just a look. Feathers McGraw makes a welcome return as a Sideshow Bob-esque villain. His ability to emote, despite not having pupils, is impressive, highlighting the film’s exceptional prowess for physical comedy.
One of the main themes that Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl explores is the role and balance of technology in our lives. While the message is even more timely with the introduction of Tesla’s own humanoid robot prototype, the lessons learned from Wallace’s rogue helper robots can easily apply to today or yesteryear.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a proper Wallace and Gromit film and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is worth the wait. The movie feels like a joyous reunion with some old chums. Aardman Animations hits another home run here, delivering top-notch cinema on all levels from story to animation, which wiewers of all ages will find to be a real treat.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl releases exclusively on Netflix on January 3, 2025.
★★★★1/2
