Chicken Run
**
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Liverpool City Centre)
Released in the UK by Pathé on June 30, 2000; certificate U; 85 minutes;
country of origin UK; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Peter Lord, Nick Park;
produced by Peter Lord, Nick Park, David Sproxton.
Written by Karey Kirkpatrick.
Photographed by Dave Alex Riddett; edited by Mark
Solomon.
CAST.....
Voice of Mel Gibson..... Rocky
Voice of Julie Sawalha..... Ginger
Voice of Miranda Richardson..... Mrs. Tweedy
Voice of Tony Haygarth..... Mr. Tweedy
Voice of Jane Horrocks..... Babs
Voice of Lynn Ferguson..... Mac
Voice of Imelda Staunton..... Bunty
Voice of Benjamin Whitrow..... Fowler
Voice of Timothy Spall..... Nick
Voice of Phil Daniels..... Fletcher
Ginger has been taken to the shed. There lies
Mrs. Tweedy's new machine -- where chickens go in, and pies come out. Rocky
runs in to save her, and together they must dodge chutes, chopping blocks,
mincers, gravy squirters, pastry cutters and an oven.
This is an amazing moment in "Chicken
Run", the first animated feature to be co-directed by Nick Park of
"Wallace and Gromit" fame. The plot involves the escape attempts of chickens
on Tweedy farm, where the lady of the house has decided to ditch egg production
and focus on selling meat. If everything had been in the same vein as the
scene above -- vital to the characters, true to their nature, staged excitingly
-- then the movie might live up to its ad campaign, which hypes it as the
latest kiddie flick to revolutionise the genre. It doesn't, and isn't even
a very good film.
The chickens hold meetings in Hutch 17, there
is a Cooler King and a hyperactive Scot, and a character played by Mel Gibson
at one point shouts "Freedom!". But references to "Stalag 17", "The Great
Escape", "Braveheart" and countless other pieces of pop culture feel forced,
because they're stuffed into scenes without any thought, like a desperate
attempt to make the humour hip. "The Simpsons" satirises pop culture with
subtlety; "Chicken Run" feels like "Scream 3" for
primary-schoolers.
That might be less irritating if the movie worked
on some basic level. "Toy Story" allowed us into the world of toys, "Babe"
into that of animals -- so long as we suspended disbelief enough to accept
toys coming to life or different species of beasts communicating with each
other. The creatures in this picture can read words, write maps, sew, conduct
detailed medical examinations and perform amazing feats of engineering...
so what's the point? Is there any interest or suspense in watching poultry
act human, when there is no logic or limitation to their reality? The climax
sees them escape by building a plane. Go figure.
Small tots will enjoy "Chicken Run" for its visual
delights. The Claymation process here has advanced significantly from the
"Wallace and Gromit" days -- it now involves a different form of shooting,
and models built around detailed synthetic skeletons. For older children
and adults, it's thin soup. Watching chickens behave like people, even if
they have been brought to life with fluid dimensionality, is like watching
kids dress in their parents' clothes -- cute and amusing for about five minutes,
and then you just wish they'd find another game to play.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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