Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Enchanting and welcome
Overall Grade: | B+ |
Story: | B+ |
Acting: | A- |
Direction: | B+ |
Visuals: | A |
Having children can mean that mean that parents are subjected to many degrees of pain. One of those can be the humourless gimmicks that Hollywood prys into childrens minds with catchy music and annoying characters in movies. Original movies like Toy Story and Chicken Run helped cartoon makers see the possibility of witty dialog, that kept the parents interest, while entertaining the kids. But of late, so many children's animation movies have become a formulaic rant on that theme- enamor the children with slap-bop humor and quiet the parents with over-the-kids-head puns and innuendo. Madagascar, the Incredibles, and other recent releases have made the trek to the theatre with the kids a tiring and annoying one for the parents. Worse still is having the kids return home and recite movie lines that were a worse dialog than any parent would teach their child.
Enter Wallace and Gromit. The simplicity of the animation (the crisp marriage of clamation and animatics) is refreshing as a visual setting and enjoyable as the textures and movements are uniquely non CGI, yet magically other-worldly and childish. The dialog is markedly clean and innocent (save 3 errant lines that should have been erased), drawing you into the vegetable loving world of the two heros. British in its origin, the setting and characters are both simple and warmhearted. No one will go away with darkened views of humanity after seeing this film. And its a nice reprieve for everyone. The kids enjoy a great romp of wonderment in a new world of fun with Wallace and Gromit, and the parents are happily laughing along with the clean fun of a man and his dog trying the save a kind village from a giant rabbit eating up all their prized vegetables.
Well, almost. I so much wanted to give this movie an A rating, as the writing is brilliant but not flashy. The visuals are a breath of fresh air in an overstimulated CGI world. And the characters are mild and thoughtful, but not overly talkative. But director/writers Steve Box and Nick Park run sharply awry in 3 scenes where they try to "americanize" the film by adding crude sexual innuendo, hoping to make the parents laugh in the film. It really wasn't needed, and we were all laughing right along without it. That act alone caused me to lower the rating to a B+ from a A-. They were very close in every aspect, at getting a full A, but floundered in trying to pander too much to the American crowd with those ill-guided lines.
Still, the children in the crowd will not get the references until they are over 10 years old, so its a safe bet that you won't have a problem with your kids asking questions about this unless you tell them what just happened.
The movie, other than that, is delightful, and probably the best kids movie to come along in animation for many years. If you have kids, this is an absolute must see. It would have made classic status had they clean up the few lines, but it is easily the best children's movie your kids will see in the last couple years.
Enjoy it!
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