Review of 'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget'

Following on from the events of “Chicken Run”, Ginger (voiced by Thandiwe Newton) and the rest of her flock have found peace away from humans on a small island in a lake. She and Rocky (now voiced by Zachary Levi) have hatched a girl named Molly (voiced by Bella Ramsey) who is determined to see for herself what life is like in the rest of the world. Escaping the island the naïve Molly is saved by Frizzle (voiced by Josie Sedgwick-Davies) who is determined to get into Fun-Land Farms which promises a life of leisure and fun. Ginger and Rocky rally together the troops to find their daughter and save her from the shocking truth…

A second “Chicken Run” outing which serves up a lot of the fun of the first film with a few, slight, twists but the same human baddies determined to make nuggets out of our heroes. The animation from Aardman is, as always, amazing full of rich detail and fun that makes it so appealing to both the young and old. In a nice twist Ginger, the outgoing hero from the first film is now a concerned and cautious mum with a child very much as adventurous as she was when young herself.

The voices are perfect for the characters and, surprisingly, Mel Gibson bowing out from the voice of Rocky goes largely unmissed though the character of Rocky here is far more understated than the original film. This is not the only change as Thandiwe Newton takes over from Julia Sawalha in voicing Ginger but, again, you could be forgiven for not even noticing. Here is not really the voices that matter with the character's that make the film what it is - A delightful, fun romp that never fails to entertain despite the rather predictable storyline. It is the journey that matters.

Run and silliness from the masters of Claymation that re-treads familiar group but with a few twists that will keep audiences interested.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2023-12-26

Directed by: Sam Fell

Studio: Aardman Animations

Year: 2023

Length: 101 minutes

Genre: Animation

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8337264/

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