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Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Movie Review

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is a 2024 animated comedy film directed by Nick Park. It’s a return to form for Aardman and another wonderful adventure for this iconic duo.

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“I can live without inventing,

but I can’t live without… me best pal“

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Gromit’s concern that Wallace has become over-dependent on his inventions proves justified when Wallace invents a smart gnome that seems to develop a mind of its own. Wallace and Gromit are most known for their incredible shorts, but they also received a feature film back in 2005 that ended up in a well deserved Oscar win. This is the second feature-length entry in the series, and although it’s not quite up to par with that classic, it came awfully close nonetheless.

This is a more modern take on the series in more ways than one. The script is particularly contemporary as it focuses on artificial intelligence and the dangers of it. The warning message is a familiar one that we’ve seen numerous times before in sci-fi movies, but what was more effective was the message about the importance of humanity and us doing our own chores and inventions instead of relegating them to the machines. The movie is all about the human touch, which was a perfect fit for this immensely charming and cozy series.

Wallace is just as eccentric and insufferably incompetent as ever, but his genuine care and love for Gromit shined through once again. Gromit is per usual the smarter and more capable part of this pairing and many of his facial expressions made me laugh out loud, especially his snarky eyerolls. These two are just as lovable and endearing together as always, so it’s a shame that oftentimes the film would forget about them and focus on the supporting players for way too long.

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But that is not to say that these side characters are bad. Quite the contrary actually. The inspector character and his subordinate made for such a fun duo on their own. She deserved her promotion in the end as she was competent throughout while the inspector is that typically buffoonish and bumbling police officer, but done right.

The highlight, however, is obviously Feathers McGraw. This penguin is a mastermind thief and the biggest villain of the entire franchise. It was great to see him return after his unforgettable turn in the iconic ‘Wrong Trousers’. And he is hilarious once again. The prison genre parody was very amusing through his character’s arc while the other highlights include his creepy stares and his numerous very poorly conceived and ridiculous disguises. This character just works and he made this movie a treat to watch.

Vengeance Most Fowl is at its best when it’s focusing on the penguin and our main duo, but at its worst when centering on the A.I. gnomes. They served their purpose, but most of those sequences where they plotted their schemes were quite familiar and uninspired. The computer scene where Feathers showed his ingenuity was so funny and just perfect, but the gnomes on their own made for scenes that felt overlong and not as engaging.

The ending is also a typical chase sequence, but it had its moments with the villain escape being so well done and very amusing. This movie has more extensive dialogue than usual, but the use of typically quaint British words and phrases appealed to me a lot and made the movie incredibly charming. The tone is just right and the references are great.

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I also really liked the score, editing and pacing. The movie is only around 70 minutes long, which made it feel breezy and highly entertaining. The animation is per usual stellar with particularly memorable backgrounds and strongly utilized settings throughout, but I did miss the more rough and handcrafted feel to the character designs as they here looked a bit too modern and polished.