My Movie Review on Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Greetings and salutations, my friends.

This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.

Today, for the first installment of this year’s “Christmas Craze”, I’m gonna give you guys my analysis of “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”.

Here's the rundown of this sequel:

Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy's farm, Ginger has finally found her dream - a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger's happy ending seems complete.

Back on the mainland, though, a new chicken farm called Fun-Land Farms has been formed, forcing everyone into hiding on a greater scale than before. When Molly is later captured and taken to the farm after wandering onto the mainland, Ginger decides that the only way to save her...is by breaking in. And with a team consisting of her husband and old friends by her side, what could possibly go wrong?

In all honesty, I initially didn’t have any plans to review this sequel. I remember hearing about it being in development, although whether I was in for Aardman creating a sequel to “Chicken Run” or against it is something I can’t recall. Other than that, there were some announcements involving this sequel that made me lose interest for quite a while, from some of the recastings and the reasons behind them, to the decision to have the film be released exclusively on Netflix. The latter aspect particularly bothered me, because whenever Netflix distributes something, the product is never given a home video release or showcased on other streaming services. Not unless you fight for it, at least. That, and I'm not a fan of Netflix's business culture & style.

Throughout the year, though, I developed a greater interest in actually checking out "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget". I wanted to see for myself whether it's a worthy successor of the original, regardless of the sequel being created over 20 years after the first movie, and despite the changes & differences from it. I even rewatched the first film last month, just in case.

Because my family and I no longer had a Netflix account, I had to use an alternative for seeing this sequel. I first watched it using a free movie website, then later saw it a couple more times after finding out that it was available on Dailymotion. In total, I watched "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget" three times in preparation for reviewing it, because I wanted to ensure I took everything about this sequel in & be absolutely certain over what I thought of it.

So, what do I think of "Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget" in words? Especially after seeing it three times this year?

Well, I will say that I didn't think it was 100% perfect. And believe me, there are many reasons for why I think this beyond the simple "This sequel's not as good as the first film" line.

Before I address the negatives, though, I'd like to go ahead and talk about the positives this movie has. In fact, the positives were great enough to outweigh the negatives, which is why I consider this sequel to be enjoyable regardless.

For instance, the direction by Sam Fell and Jeffrey Newitt, the story by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell, and the screenplay by them and Rachel Tunnard, were pretty well-done.

When it came to the overall comedy, I admittedly didn't find myself rolling on the ground with laughter most of the time. Many of the gags primarily came across as bland, flat, or out-of-place, which is surprising because Aardman was often able to make any kind of joke in their stop-motion filmography fun to watch. But, there were still plenty of jokes that I found to be entertaining, so it wasn't a complete loss in the comedy regard. Some of my favorites gags were the ones that occured during the time Ginger & company were breaking into Fun-Land Farms.

Similarly, this sequel's emotional & heartfelt moments weren't exactly strong enough to tug at my soul, and the dramatic scenes weren’t powerful enough to where they could vibrate off my very being. However, I loved how genuine and investing those parts were, so I wasn't unmoved by them in the slightest. The very best of the scenes in question were the ones shared between Ginger, Rocky, and Molly, which made sense considering their familial bond was the heart of the story.

Of course, I think what truly helped this sequel is that the filmmakers came up with a narrative that proved to be quite engaging and intriguing. It did contain plot elements that were similar to the first film's story, with the concept notably featuring Mrs. Tweedy trying to turn chickens into a one course meal again in an attempt to get rich, but I was interested in seeing what was gonna happen regardless. Everything had also tied together incredibly well, and there weren't any dull moments either.

The animation was astonishing, if I may add.

In every way, you can easily tell that this sequel's visuals were created with much more advanced technology compared to the first film, mainly when you take into account that Aardman started using computers for a variety of things in their stop-motion movies beginning with "Pirates! Band of Misfits". Even so, I didn't think that was a bad thing. I still noted that the animations for both the characters & settings were marvelously crafted by hand, and the animators were clearly giving their all in preserving the visual splendor of the first movie while bringing something new to the table. Also, as an avid lover of popcorn, I loved that they were apparently using real seeds for whenever the characters were creating some, because it further enhanced the authenticity.

Finally, the voice acting, characters, and character development were terrific.

As I mentioned at the beginning, some of the characters that were introduced in this sequel’s predecessor were recast. In the first movie, the role of Fowler was played by Benjamin Whitrow, but due to his death on September 28, 2017, he was replaced by David Bradley. The first Chicken Run movie also featured Julia Sawalha as Ginger, Mel Gibson as Rocky, Timothy Spall as Nick, and Phil Daniels as Fetcher; whereas Dawn of the Nugget featured Thandiwe Newton as Ginger, Zachary Levi as Rocky, Romesh Ranganathan as Nick, and Daniel Mays as Fetcher instead. Some sources say that Newton replaced Sawalha because Aardman wanted Ginger to be played by someone younger for the sequel, even though both performers are in their fifties. Others say that Gibson was replaced due to a controversy of sorts revolving around, of which I have no interest in mentioning here. As for Spall & Mays, there wasn’t any word at all on why they were replaced. In whatever case, compared to the recasting of Fowler, it feels like the world will never know for sure why Ginger, Rocky, Nick, & Fetcher were recast for the sequel.

In all the times I was watching Dawn of the Nugget, though, I found myself feeling blown away by the performances of Newton, Levi, Bradley, Ranganathan, and Mays. Each performer did a surprisingly excellent job at capturing the spirit of their characters while making the roles their own, and somehow…they helped the recastings work regardless of whatever vocal differences there are! These feats are stuff that most celebrity recastings for animated characters aren’t able to accomplish, and the fact that each of the new performers were giving their all & having a great time voicing their characters helped everything be worth it.

Meanwhile, Dawn of the Nugget also featured Lynn Ferguson as Mac, Imelda Staunton as Bunty, Jane Horrocks as Babs, and Miranda Richardson as Melisha Tweedy. All four of these actresses previously played their individual characters in the first film, and considering the fact that they reprised their roles 23 years after the original movie’s release, I really must say that Ferguson, Staunton, Horrocks, and Richardson clearly didn’t lose their touch. They portrayed their characters with the exact same power & energy they gave in the first film, and it sounded like they were having fun being a part of this sequel.

For the newly created characters, this sequel featured Bella Ramsay as Molly, Josie Sedgwick-Davies as Frizzle, Nick Mohammed as Dr. Fry, and Peter Serafinowicz as Reginald Smith. Just like the rest of the cast, I thought that Ramsay, Davies, Mohammed, and Serafinowicz each gave smashing performances. They portrayed their roles with astonishing passion and commitment, and the best part is that they helped their characters be notable in a good way.

As for the characters themselves, both new & old, they were all enjoyable to watch. The personalities & spirits of the original characters were faithfully preserved, the new characters were a joy to watch, and they were all pretty well-developed. Ginger & Molly in particular were the ones who had the largest & most compelling of character growths, which further shows that they were definitely the stars of this sequel.

Nevertheless, as I stated at the beginning, I didn’t think “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” was without its flaws. There were some particularly glaring issues that I couldn’t ignore no matter what, and so I just had to reveal what they were in this review.

Warning: This flaw listing will contain spoilers.

For starters, I personally felt critical over how this sequel used Fowler.

Like I said before, I thought the filmmakers successfully ensured the personalities & spirits of the original characters were maintained, including Fowler. But, while there were times where Fowler meaningfully contributed to the story, it seemed like he was primarily reduced to mere comic-relief status. Most notably, once Ginger & the others officially infiltrate Fun-Land Farms, all Fowler does while waiting on the rooftop is ramble about stuff to a snail; and the same thing happens again after Ginger initiates a plan to rescue the other captive chickens. Basically, compared to the rest of the characters, Fowler hardly did anything important or had much of a role despite having a recurring presence, and it appeared that the filmmakers weren’t sure what to do with Fowler beyond comedy-based moments much of the time.

Also, despite Rocky being the same lovable rooster he was depicted as in the original film, there was one part regarding him that I found to be questionable.

At one point, Rocky discovers that everyone else unwittingly got trapped inside of a corn silo, and him still being out provided hope for the others to get free. However, instead of realizing the others’ predicament, or going to get something that could pull everyone out, Rocky decides to just jump inside! All because he couldn’t understand what everyone was saying from the height he was at & wanted to reunite with the others!

From a creative standpoint, I could see that the filmmakers were wanting to get Rocky trapped with the others, mostly since not doing so wouldn’t have led into an undeniably heartwarming family moment between him, Ginger, & Molly. But still, the whole thing was not only dumb but unusually out-of-character for Rocky to do, and it makes me wonder why the filmmakers couldn’t come up with a better & more sensical way to get Rocky trapped in the corn silo.

In addition to this, I had relatively mixed feelings towards the defeat of Mrs. Tweedy in this sequel.

Here’s what happens:

In a possible throwback to the first movie, Mrs. Tweedy is hit in the face by the knob of a flying hatchet. After getting dazed by the hit, she falls into the processing machine made for killing chickens and turning them into nuggets, coming out breaded up like a nugget herself afterwards. When she later tries to catch the chickens & rats as they’re making a getaway in a Sir Eat-A-Lot truck, Fowler zip lines down from the Fun-Land Farm rooftop & knocks Mrs. Tweedy into the moat. And while she’s inside the moat, she’s targeted by laser-guided exploding ducks, and she’s unable to get out before they blow up.

Quite a triple-whammy for Mrs. Tweedy, wouldn’t you say?

Anyway…

The main thing I commend regarding Mrs. Tweedy’s takedown in this sequel is that it’s pretty entertaining to watch. As a company that primarily does comedies, Aardman is often able to make something enjoyable out of a part where a villain gets their comeuppance, and the one featured in Dawn of the Nugget is no exception to that. The fact that it was also a tripe-whammy further adds to the entertainment-aspect of it, that’s for sure.

Regardless, the reason for why I’ve felt relatively critical towards Mrs. Tweedy’s defeat is because of this:

When you look closely at how the first part of Mrs. Tweedy’s takedown played out, it largely gives the impression that Aardman was openly keeping Mrs. Tweedy from getting outright killed! I mean, they have a chicken die once it falls in the processor, yet when Mrs. Tweedy falls into the machine, she not only causes it to overload but comes out alive & well afterwards? How is that even remotely possible? And wouldn’t this mean that she’d also survive the exploding ducks as well?

Suffice to say, Mrs. Tweedy’s defeat was amusing & worthy of laughs, but from a creative standpoint…it was also stale & underwhelming. It felt like Aardman was playing it safe and didn’t want to take any risks, and at the cost of it all, they left a lot to be desired.

In conclusion, “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” is unquestionably not as good as the first film, mostly because of the flaws I noted & due to it not containing an entirely powerful punch. But, I’m also happy to say that this sequel managed to be delightful in its own way thanks to the positives I mentioned, and that it was a worthy expansion of the original. For me, it's pretty much a new guilty pleasure.

So, I rate “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” 4 out of 5 stars.

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To Aardman: If you’re reading this review, I encourage you highly to please gain the rights from Netflix to release this sequel on home video at some point. It would be nice if you did, that’s for sure.