adonis98-743-186503
Having been hopelessly repressed and facing eventual certain death at the chicken farm where they are held, Rocky the rooster and Ginger the chicken decide to rebel against the evil Mr. and Ms. Tweedy, the farm's owners. Rocky and Ginger lead their fellow chickens in a great escape from the murderous farmers and their farm of doom. Chicken Run boasts terrific perfomances, humor but also such a beautiful animation plus Ms. Tweedy was freaking creepy to say the least and i never thought i'd see and hear Mel Gibson in an animated movie but.. (A+)
jdh-74769
Chicken Run is, quite honestly, an egg-cellent work of comedy, and a movie that impressed me a lot more than I expected it to, and I highly recommend watching it if you haven't already.
I don't like summary, but to talk about it I should probably at least outline the film: it takes place on a chicken farm that is portrayed as a prison from the view of the chickens, who make up the bulk of the characters in the film. The movie is about the chickens and their various attempts to escape.
Ok, barebones summary out of the way, the movie does a bunch of things that blew me away and really impressed me. The first of these, and the most immediately apparent, is the visual style of the movie: it is entirely claymation. Now, the only times I had seen claymation used before, I...wasn't impressed with it. However, the way they do claymation in Chicken Run is amazing, in that it is simply so expressive and detailed. The love and hard work that the creators of the movie had poured into the clay figures was immediately apparent with how detailed they looked, in spite of their simple, cartoonish, looks--it honestly felt like I was watching a 3D version of one of the Saturday morning cartoons I watched as a kid. The amount of different poses, expressions, and even effects that the filmmakers were able to do astounded me, and honestly endeared me to this style of animation.
Beyond that though, the thing that I loved most about this film--and the aspect of the film that makes it stand out as much as it does--is the STELLAR writing in the film. I went in expecting a simple movie that was clearly intended for kids, and as a result the movie took me for one hell of a ride. This movie had me scared, mad, and sobbing at various points throughout, and even more often had me tearing up in laughter--but even better, I was invested in what was happening, a lot more than I am with more recent films. And honestly, this was due to the writing. The characters in the film, some of them one-notes though they may be, honestly felt so articulate and alive at times, and this was emphasized by the stellar voice work (the accent work fit each and every character to a T). I found myself getting so engrossed in their plight, and rooting for their success the entire time, and it was absolutely fantastic. Hell, I even was invested in the romance between Ginger and Rocky, as out of place as a romance subplot was in this movie--and normally I loathe out-of-place romantic subplots. But the best part is that I felt each and every character was done right, even the one-notes. For example, the antagonists were written to work perfectly with each other, and despite being farmers as the villains, still struck me with fear. The bumbling, fumbling, dunderhead that was Mr. Tweedy was an excellently-written foil to the dastardly and diabolical Mrs. Tweedy, yet even in scenes where Mr. Tweedy was the only antagonist present, he still felt menacing--something I applaud, honestly. I was also endeared to the other characters; from the silliness of the hens to the military rigidity of Ginger's father, to the rats, who were simultaneously lovable and hateable, I found myself loving each and every one of them.
The biggest praise that I can give to this movie, and the greatest testament I can provide that speaks to how good it is, is that even after watching it once I not only am able to applaud it so much, but also truly wish to applaud it. It is an excellent film, and I highly recommend it.
Hitchcoc
I would say it's a hoot, but it's about chickens, and a cluck just doesn't do it. In this masterwork of modern claymation, a flock of chickens realize that their World War II concentration camp setting is going result in all of them becoming dinner. Along comes Mel Gibson as a chicken (I suppose after saving the Colonies in "The Patriot" he needed other things to do. Anyway, the chickens are soon empowered to try to save themselves with the help of Mel. They become industrious. They already have some pretty amazing anthropomorphic talents, but trying to escape has not been one of them. They are ruled over by the Tweedys, a clumsy husband and wife team who start to realize what is happening. Because they are not doing well in the egg business, they buy a pie machine with the thought of butchering their animals and making them into pies. So the chips are down. Great animation and a really interesting premise.
Leofwine_draca
CHICKEN RUN is a pretty decent feature-length animation from Aardman, directed by WALLACE & GROMIT creator Nick Park. I found it only second to THE WRONG TROUSERS in terms of quality, as for the most part this is a funny, action-packed tale with a decent storyline and effective larger than life characters.The story is about a bunch of chickens hoping to escape from a chicken farm and the American rooster that comes by and helps them. It doesn't sound like much on paper - your typical kid's production in fact - but in terms of execution this is a piece of visual excellence. I particularly loved all of the references to WW2 prisoner of war films, most notably THE GREAT ESCAPE, which alone kept me watching.The story isn't too kiddified and some of the jokes are pleasingly mature. There's a little too much random slapstick but the American influence is low and the film has a strong British feel and sense of humour. The cast members acquit themselves very well with the material, and even shoehorned-in Mel Gibson is a fine choice for the lead. In the end, Nick Park's tireless work pays off here, and the result is that rarity: a modern-day children's film I can enjoy time and again.
