‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ Review: Feathers Returns in What Could Have Been a Perfectly Charming Short
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film Critic A scoundrel from Wallace and Gromit’s past resurfaces in “Vengeance Most Fowl,” causing fresh trouble for the eccentric English inventor and his underappreciated canine.
As the spiffy sequel’s play-on-word title implies, the culprit is none other than Feathers McGraw, that diamond-thieving master of disguise last seen in 1993’s Oscar-winning short “The Wrong Trousers,” who seizes on another of Wallace’s inventions to engineer his escape from the local zoo in the stop-motion duo’s second feature in as many decades.
Watching Wallace and Gromit, you get the sense that the pair’s life is quite bland — as if they’ve passed the last 16 years (that’s how long it’s been since “A Matter of Loaf and Death”) enjoying a low-key routine of cheese and toast from the comfort of their home at 62 West Wallaby St.
A little commotion could do them good, and while it’s clear that director Nick Park and co-helmer Merlin Crossingham are stretching things to hit the 79-minute mark, it’s a delight to find these two, plus their penguin nemesis, back on the big screen (though most will see it either on BBC this Christmas or streaming on Netflix early next year).
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