Review: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2025)

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Rating

Director

Merling Crossingham, Nick Park

Screenplay

Mark Burton, Nick Park

Length

1h 22m

Starring

Ben Whitehead, Peter Kay, Lauren Patel, Reece Shearsmith, Diane Morgan, Adjoa Andoh, Muzz Khan

MPAA Rating

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Review

Twenty years after the adventures in Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Oscar-winning duo Wallace & Gromit makes a satisfying return with Vengeance Most Fowl.

First created in 1989, Wallace (voiced by Ben Whitehead) is a human inventor whose self-absorption often leads to his partner Gromit, a beagle who often has to outthink his owner. Touching back on its own history, the penguin villain of the short film The Wrong Trousers (1993), Feathers McGraw, has finally hatched a plan to escape prison and reclaim the gem he attempted to steal in that short. Dimwitted police Chief Detective Albert Mackintosh (Peter Kay) doesn’t have half the brilliance of Wallace but still wants to save the day on the cusp of his own retirement. Rounding out the cast are PC Mukherjee (Lauren Patel), Mackintosh’s significantly brighter protégée, and Norbot (Reece Shearsmith), a lawn care robot that Wallace hopes to use to make the lives of his neighbors easier.

Aardman Animation has produced other features and shorts outside of the Wallace & Gromit productions but that foundation was built on this success of creating captivating Claymation productions that delight audiences of all ages. Despite a devastating fire in 2005 that wiped out their entire catalogue of figures, the painstaking process of starting over hasn’t dimmed Aardman’s vision for a mirthful future. Their brand of sight-gags that are more compelling to adult audiences than children have made their output last across generations. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is a fitting part of that history.

Directors Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park, the latter the creator of these magnificent characters, give the audience a hilarious and exciting caper that pits supersmart penguin against supresmart beagle in a battle of wits that leaves their human counterparts confused and often stumbling. To make an intelligent fool like Wallace believable only enhances the effort put into making Gromit seem more competent on every level. The new gadgets created for the film help continue the tradition started in the first short over thirty years ago. There’s a reason this particular combination of antics continues to hold our attention so many years afterwards.

The vocal work is outstanding, presenting the classic British deadpan humor with wit and charm, enabling the ludicrous nature of some of the situations depicted feel perfectly reasonable. There’s always a touch of Monty Python in these films and that isn’t dampened in this outing, which makes its success all the more satisfying.

Whether you’re new to Wallace & Gromit or are an experienced returnee, Vengeance Most Fowl will delight and enrapture you regardless of age. Not all the humor lands and some of the story beats are overly familiar but that won’t stop people from utterly enjoying this stop-motion marvel.