Get set for the newest nugget of absolute film-making brilliance from the guys who brought you the claymated man and dog buddy duo of Wallace & Gromit

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2002)

The creators of Chicken Run! Also brought us, more recognizable to Americans, the Chevron talking cars. Directed by Nick Park and Peter Lord, it stars the voices of Julia Sawalha as Ginger the oxymoronically fearless chicken leader, Mel Gibson as Rocky the Flying Rooster, Jane Horrocks as Ginger's bungling friend, Babs, and Miranda Richardson as the diabolical Mrs. Tweedy, owner of the chicken farm. When Mrs. Tweedy hatches a plan to turn her under-achieving egg-layers into pot pies (complete with gravy and... MIXED VEGETABLES!), Ginger must muster the hens into escape mode. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a plumper task than she had anticipated, and it's up to Rocky -- straight out of the traveling circus -- to further inspire the break-out from the seemingly in-egg-scapable Tweedy's Farm!
To fly right out of the coop, you're in for sheer entertainment! Combining elements of painfully meticulous clay animation (some 24 moved poses in one SECOND of film!), dynamite voicing by the ensemble cast, and one of the most hysterically well-written screenplays you'll experience this summer, Chicken Run will surely go down as a 2000 movie to remember. What's more, it's Rated G -- making this a joyride for the entire family. Not a whole lot of films that year could make that claim. So you're worried that it's rated G huh? You don't have to worry! In fact, adults could conceivably find it even more entertaining than kids. Think Aladdin; think The Lion King; think Beauty and the Beast; then think of all the fun YOU had while watching each of these. And though all of these films I mentioned are Disney, Dreamworks could very well be an integral part in the next evolutionary step in family entertainment. Though the Steven Spielberg/Jeffrey Katzenberg/David Geffen producing conglomerate has sponsored animated features before (The Prince of Egypt and Antz both in 1998, and last year's The Road to El Dorado), Chicken Run is so much more accessible, palatable, and just unadulterated fun than its predecessors.
Is there anything not to like about Chicken Run? There is so little, I have trouble even mentioning it. But then again, it is my job to be thorough. With that said, the story did tend to lull around the middle, but only somewhat. If you start feeling bored in places, do me a favor: Take a look at it from a different angle and admire the technical work that went into those characters. If you're not amazed by that, then very little will thrill you.
And for you movie buffs out there, let me add to your entertainment dollar if I may -- play the "How Many Movie References Can I Spot?" game. First off, since the film is essentially about breaking out of captivity, expect to see homages/references to just about every great prison escape movie out there. Scenes are staged and shot with an uncanny sense of detail to make you sit up and say, "OH! That's from, that's from...." But the allusions don't stop with prison movies. If you somehow manage to hear most of the dialogue through the laughter, you may catch a few things that even the most seasoned film buff will miss, and you'll pat yourself on the back for it without feeling the least bit of conceit!
It's the multi-tiered grade A quality that makes the movie one of the most well-rounded films out there right now -- a rarity coming from a major studio these days. Run out and enjoy the chickens!