Chicken Run (2000)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2000
	Director: Peter Lord, Nick Park
	Actors (voices): Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels
	Country: GB, USA, F
	Genre: Comedy, Animation
	Conditions of visioning: 02.08.2018, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: A group of hens led by Ginger, tired of a life of imprisonment and egg-production try by any means possible to escape from their owner, unsuccessfully. The arrival of Rocky the rooster gives them a new hope.
Review: After having enjoyed a lot the Wallace and Gromit short movies produced by the British studio Aardman (A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave), I remember that I was waiting impatiently for their first long feature film back in the year 2000... and being utterly disappointed by it. I remember I saw it in French because the dubbing of the rooster's voice was done by Gerard Depardieu. This recent viewing in original version didn't change my opinion of it. Yes the whole thing is nicely rendered, the hand-animations are well-done, the chickens have anthropomorphic faces in the style of Wallace, speak with a nice British accent, elaborate nicely intricate plans (including references to The Great Escape), try to escape a colorful couple of characters, etc... But I have always felt that the magic was not there. It is present in some elements like details of the hen's characters, the human couple, the factory machinery or the final escape mean. But it lacks lovable characters, pinching dialogs and maybe some craziness. I really thought that was the end of the Aardman studios... until The Curse of the Were-Rabbit came out in 2005.
Rating: 4 /10