A Close Shave Review

A Close Shave is a 1995 British Oscar winning animated short film from Aardman directed by Nick Park and starring Wallace and Gromit. It’s another great one.

One sheep arrives to Wallace and Gromit’s home and starts wrecking and eating everything. Afterwards, Gromit gets framed for murder by a villainous dog and the duo must stop him. This is a very good story that isn’t as dark and certainly not quite as good as ‘The Wrong Trousers’, but it’s still pretty great in its own right. The third act had too much action, but I loved the twist that Preston is a robot and how they managed to defeat him was really well thought out. Another highlight is that prison sequence which is just devastating to watch and all of the scenes with the sheep are wonderful.

Wendolene is actually quite an interesting character with a great backstory and I really enjoyed their romance, but I do think that it is not going to go anywhere as she hates cheese and of course Wallace can’t live without it. Gromit here is truly a hero and I adored him, especially his facial expressions which are priceless per usual. Preston is a pretty terrific, very competent villain who really posed some serious threat. But the highlight is that endearing sheep (Shaun the Sheep) who steals the show here for sure. The score and stop-motion animation are as awesome as usual.

Aardman does it again and deservedly wins an Oscar for A Close Shave which is such a wonderful, really well done Wallace and Gromit adventure.