I fucking adore Wallace & Gromit. It’s entirely fair to say that their three shorts are among my favorite films in the history of animation. So I hate to say it, and lose all of my street cred, but I’m not interested in discussing whether or not this works as a sterling example of the medium like, say Corpse Bride. I’m really just interesed in whether or not it works as a W&G short. And it does. It does very much.
There’s a pretty typical formula to these stories: Act 1 introduces Wallace’s wonderful inventions, Act 2 holds most of the plot, Act 3 features Gromit saving Wallace from himself. The feature hews precisely to this structure. As it should. In this case, Wallace (Peter Sallis) and his dog Gromit own a rabbit-removal company called Anti-Pesto, which uses humane methods to keep bunnies out of gardens. Their services are called in to safeguard the estate of Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter, in her second stop-motion film in three weeks) on the eve of a major vegetable festival.
The film lives and dies on the strength of its characters and humor, and by and large it lives very well. There are a few ill-advised jokes involving out-of-place sexual innuendo, but nothing could leave a sour taste in a film as good-natured as this. It has, if possible, even more warmth than the shorts did; the extra running time is put to good use opening up the relationship between man and dog that has been built in the previous stories. I am convinced again that these two characters are among the most joyous the history of animation, especially Gromit, who without dialogue or even a mouth manages to be more expressive than many live actors.
Bottom line: if you like the shorts you’ll like the feature, and if you don’t like the shorts, you’re a cold and heartless beast. Asshole. Stop reading my reviews.