CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET
Ain’t nobody here but us chickens: Ginger and the gang plot against Mrs Tweedy.
PUT ALL YOUR EGGS INTO THIS LOVINGLY MADE CINEMATIC BASKET
★★★★
OUT 15 DECEMBER (NETFLIX) / CERT PG / 98 MINS
DIRECTOR Sam Fell
CAST Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Romesh Ranganathan, David Bradley, Daniel Mays, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson
PLOT Years after escaping Tweedy’s farm, chickens Ginger (Newton) and Rocky (Levi) must now rescue their young daughter Molly (Ramsey) from a deadly new threat.
THAT AARDMAN ANIMATIONS even exists — still operating out of an unassuming Bristol industrial estate — is nothing short of a miracle. CG-animated blockbusters come and go, but Aardman is a stop-motion port in a storm. That’s not to say it hasn’t evolved: Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget, a sequel to its very first feature film way back in 2000 (ask your parents, kids), retains the long-held artisanal fundamentals of traditional claymation, craft and detail in every contour of Plasticine — but the ambition and technical scope are markedly bolder. There are wild set-pieces, luscious CG-assisted backgrounds, a slickness and clarity that comes with experience (and inflated Netflix budgets).