Review | Netflix movie review – Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, sequel to the 2000 mega-hit, is fun but unremarkable, with Zachary Levi in for Mel Gibson among voice changes
- Zachary Levi and Thandiwe Newton replace Mel Gibson and Julia Sawalha as the voices of Rocky and Ginger in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on Netflix
- The original saw the poultry crew break out of a farm – this time, they are breaking into one. Expect to see some familiar faces but perhaps not the same laughs
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3/5 stars
Finally hatched, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is the long-awaited Netflix-backed sequel to British animation company Aardman’s US$224 million-grossing mega-hit from the turn of the millennium.
Inspired by The Great Escape and other “breakout” films, Chicken Run was typical of the Aardman stable, with its cute stop-motion characters and irreverent humour. The same can be said for Dawn of the Nugget, only this time it is a “break in” movie: think Ocean’s Eleven with poultry.
Living contentedly on an island paradise, the chickens that escaped the farm years ago are sheltered away from human interference. But then Molly (Bella Ramsey), the chick that belongs to Rocky (Zachary Levi) and Ginger (Thandiwe Newton), sneaks off the island, encountering the Scouse-accented Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies), a fellow chicken who takes her on an adventure.
Unfortunately, that is to Fun-Farm, a hi-tech processing plant that looks more like a Bond villain’s lair. There, they run into Dr Fry (Nick Mohammed), a scientific genius who has invented a method to make all chickens radiate positive vibes before they are sent to be turned into nuggets, thereby improving the taste.
Aiding him is his wife, Mrs Tweedy (Miranda Richardson), who fans of the original will recognise. With a fast food emporium, Sir Eat-a-Lot, about to take full delivery of these zombie-fied chickens, it is a race against time, with Rocky, Ginger and the others attempting to rescue Molly and save the day.
This being Aardman, the gags and egg-related puns come thick and fast, although Dawn of the Nugget’s inventiveness does not quite compare to the Shaun the Sheep or Wallace and Gromit films.
Still, some jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, like the facility’s unique ocular recognition system for entering the main door – a series of eye photos in a book called a “Staff Eye Pad”. Nevertheless, the script has a predictable feel to it, meaning it is not too hard to figure out who will end up where.
Curiously, the film has seen voice talent Mel Gibson and Julia Sawalha replaced as Rocky and Ginger, while some actors from the original – Richardson as the villainous Tweedy, and Jane Horrocks and Imelda Staunton as two of the coop – remain. It is an odd and not entirely satisfying mix-and-match approach.
Meanwhile, the original’s co-directors Peter Lord and Nick Park are replaced by Sam Fell (ParaNorman), who does a credible job of sticking to the Aardman formula. The result will certainly be beloved by kiddies, but it is not quite the timeless classic you would hope for.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget will start streaming on Netflix on December 15.
