Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Aardman hatches another winner

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023) • View trailer

Four stars (out of five). Rated PG, for dramatic intensity and humorous action

Available via: Netflix

By Derrick Bang

Children.

 

The moment you look away, they do something stupid.

 

Although Funland Farms appears to be a larkish paradise, Frizzle and Molly soon wonder
why all the other chickens seem ... well ... not in control of their own selves.

Such behavior obviously isn’t limited to human beings, given what kicks off the action in Aardman Animation’s marvelous new Claymation entry: another hilarious, stop-motion masterpiece from the folks who brought us Wallace & Gromit.

(This seems to be the season for animated poultry, given that this film follows hot on the wings of Illumination’s Migration.)

 

This sequel is something of a surprise, given that 2000’s Chicken Run was almost a quarter-century ago. But scarcely any time has passed in the lives of intrepid avians Ginger (voiced by Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi), since they orchestrated a mass escape from the farm run by evil Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy. The clutch has settled in an idyllic island sanctuary in the middle of an isolated lake, where life has been stress-free.

 

Their only visitors are skillful scavenger rats Nick (Romesh Ranganathan) and Fletcher (Daniel Mays), who pop up occasionally with supplies.

 

Ginger and Rocky soon are blessed with a hatchling, Molly, who grows into an adventurous — and restless — adolescent (now voiced by Bella Ramsey).

 

A surge of suspicious-looking trucks on the mainland fuel concern that a new chicken farm is being constructed, which prompts Ginger and the others to better conceal their community. Alas, that isn’t enough to deter the insatiably curious Molly, who crosses the water and then — having never before seen one — stops in the middle of a paved road.

 

(Insert the obvious joke.)

 

She’s rescued from a nasty death by Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davis), a similarly adventurous young chicken beguiled by the slogan on all the passing trucks: “Funland Farms: Where Chickens Find Their Happy Endings.” All the trucks are filled with happily clucking chickens, apparently oblivious to the slogan’s implications; Molly and Frizzle hop aboard for what they believe will be a great adventure.

 

If that slogan seems a bit dire for a family-friendly comedy, the film’s title is significantly worse ... and the scripters — Karey Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell and Rachel Tunnard, assisted by seven (!) more credited writers — also don’t shy away from depicting that consequence. (Remember, the Brits gave us Roald Dahl. They have faith in a youngster’s appetite for gruesome touches.)

Fisherman's Friends: Quite a catch!

Fisherman's Friends (2019) • View trailer

Four stars. Rated PG-13, and much too harshly, for fleeting profanity

By Derrick Bang • Published in The Davis Enterprise, 10.16.20 

You can’t get much more charming than this one.

 

Hoping to impress his rugged hosts, Danny (Daniel Mays) nervously rises at the crack
of dawn, in order to join a gaggle of men during a typical morning at sea.

Director Chris Foggin’s gently amiable comedy, available via Amazon Prime and other streaming services, gets additional sizzle from its factual origins. Scripters Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft based their story — while adding a sweet romantic subplot — on the “discovery” of the actual Fisherman’s Friends, a group of Cornish fishermen who, for the past quarter-century, have met on the Platt (harbor) in their native Port Isaac, raising money for charity by singing traditional sea shanties.

 

They signed a major record deal in 2010; their debut album went gold, as they became the first traditional folk act to land a Top 10 album in the UK.

 

You can’t ask for a better premise on which to hang a typically droll touch of British whimsy.

 

A quartet of cynical, fast-living, London-based music executives, led by patronizing boss Troy (Noel Clarke), descend on Port Isaac for a “stag weekend” prior to one of their own getting married. They couldn’t be more insufferably arrogant, prompting the locals to dismiss them as useless tossers (with several deliciously arch insults hurled in their direction).

 

The newcomers also prove helpless when it comes to simple ocean activities such as stand-up paddle boarding, further irritating the townsfolk by necessitating a rescue at sea.

 

Having quickly lost interest in these “boring” surroundings, Troy and his mates perk up when they happen upon the local fishermen’s weekly pier-side concert (“the rock ’n’ roll of 1752”). But the performance quality cannot be denied; Troy encourages colleague Danny (Daniel Mays) to chat the group up, in the hopes of signing them to a contract.

 

This proves useless, of course; the cheerfully unruly, mildly grumpy men, led by nominal spokesman Jim (James Purefoy), can’t begin to take this big-city clown seriously. Indeed, they laugh him out of the pub (which actually happened to London record executive Ian Brown, the real-life Friends’ manager, on whom Danny is loosely based).

 

1917: Absolutely amazing!

1917 (2019) • View trailer 
Five stars. Rated R, for considerable war violence, dramatic intensity and profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 1.10.20

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Having made it through the harrowing horrors of No Man's Land, Lance Cpl. Schofield
(George MacKay, left) and Lance Cpl. Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) marvel at the
artillery weapons and shells that have been abandoned on the German side of the front.

Director/co-writer Sam Mendes’ war drama isn’t merely a crackling suspenser that’ll keep you at the edge of your seat — hand at mouth — for every single moment of its 119-minute run.

It’s also one of the most visually audacious films ever made: a degree of stunning cinematic technical advancement on par with the dinosaurs that knocked our socks off, back in 1993’s Jurassic Park.

Everything you’ve heard about Mendes’ film is true; it’s that awesome.

The simple, pressure-cooker plot begins on April 6, 1917, deep within the Allied trenches in Northern France. The “Great War” has been raging since late July 1914, and will continue until November 1918; American forces have yet to arrive in Western Europe (although the United States officially declared war on Germany on this very day).

German forces have unexpectedly pulled back overnight, encouraging the Allies to mount an offensive and follow. But aerial photos have revealed this to be a ruse; the Germans have feigned this retreat to the Hindenburg Line, in order to ambush the pursuing Devonshire Regiment’s 1,600-man 2nd Battalion. 

Processing this from miles away, the 8th Battalion’s Gen. Erinmore (Colin Firth, in a brief appearance) realizes the result will be a slaughter. Phone lines are down; the only hope is to send messengers — on foot — through No Man’s Land and past the original German front, in order to alert the 2nd Battalion’s commanding officer, and call off the Allied attack … which is scheduled for the very next morning.

The mission falls to two young soldiers: Lance Cpl. Schofield (George MacKay, well remembered as the beleaguered eldest son in 2016’s Captain Fantastic) and Lance Cpl. Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman, a frequent face on HBO’s Game of Thrones). They have less than 24 hours to cover many dangerous miles.

Blake has an additional incentive: His older brother Joseph is a member of the 2nd Battalion.