Director: Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
Cast: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkles, Omid Djalili
Screenplay: Mark Burton, Richard Starzak
85 mins. Rated PG for rude humor.
- Academy Award Nominee: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
It seems like every year, I’m stuck watching an animated film with stop motion techniques. To be honest, I’ve rarely enjoyed this form of the media. There are a few winners out there, but overall, it just hasn’t hit with me.
Well, here’s my review of Shaun the Sheep Movie…
Shaun (Justin Fletcher, TV’s Gigglebiz) is up to his old shenanigans again. He and his flock are up to no good as they try to escape from the farm. In the process of this latest attempt, Shaun accidentally injures the Farmer (John Sparkles, TV’s Peppa Pig, Calendar Girls) and gives him amnesia. Now, it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return the Farmer back home and elude the animal control worker Trumper (Omid Djalili, Gladiator, Sex and the City 2) in the process.
I’m going to try and keep this one short as I really don’t like these types of films. That being said…
I actually enjoyed Shaun the Sheep Movie more than I had planned to. The film is cute, and makes great use of its absence of dialogue by offering a visual feast for the entirety of its runtime. I found Shaun to be a capable lead, Trumper to be a capable villain, and the Farmer to be a capable damsel.
The runtime does run on a bit too long, and one has to ask the question of why make this story a feature. The subplot involving the amnesiac Farmer is a little sillier than it needed to be and could’ve explored other storytelling avenues.
Shaun the Sheep Movie is an imperfect family film, but definitely one of the better and smarter ones. Adults may not enjoy the loss of language in the film, but the test of a dialogue-less story makes for a more interesting one. It isn’t deserving of walking away with the statue this year, but it is very deserving of recognition nonetheless.
3.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe
GOAT Film Reviews 