Enjoyable but could have been so much more...

Rating: Null/10 (18 June 2002)

This was a great film for kids, a visual feast from the Aardman team, but I just wished it had provided just a little more for grown-ups. I have to agree with previous writers that the script didn't stand up to the quality of the animation, with jokes that just weren't always funny. I wouldn't go so far to say that Chicken Run was 'totally forgettable' however, as this film has stayed in my head since first seeing it nearly a week ago. Where the script fell down the visual gags held it together, and indeed the impressive animation gives one enough to ponder on in technical terms. How anyone can say that this film is too scary for kids I just don't know, even with the beheading sequence. One of the best things about Aardman animation is the sense of reality it envokes in spite of the ludicrous situations, rather than being just another oversensitive piece of fluff production-line flick. If anything I would have preferred a Ginger with a little more gusto since, despite her role as the central character, the delivery of her lines sometimes seemed a bit weak and watery for such a driven leader-of-the-coop type character. If Aardman really wanted to make this film stand out (AND still be a role-model for kids) then instead of ending up in a happy-ever-after type paradise Ginger would be going on to free other hens in even worse conditions: Chicken Run II: The Breakout from Battery Hell. But all in all this was a good evening's light entertainment.