Poultry in motion

Rating: 7/10 (12 February 2020)

This is the tale of chickens who want to change their fate. Instead of ending up as the content of a chicken pie, they dream of freedom and growing old in peace and harmony. One day, Rocky the cockerel flies into their enclosure, Ginger, Bunty, Babs and the other chickens see this as their opportunity to learn how to fly so they can escape the evil Mrs Tweedy.
Filmed using Claymation (is that the right term?) like "Wallace and Gromit" or "Morph" this is a charming feature length film which mirrors a World War 2 prisoner of war style film - think the great escape, just with playdoh chickens. It's littered with stars too; Mel Gibson voices Rocky, while some of Britain's finest voices lend their vocal chords to the supporting cast, including Julia Sawalha, Phil Daniels, Jane Horrocks, Miranda Richardson, Imelda Staunton and Timothy Spall to name a few.
I got dragged to watch this at the cinema by a girlfriend in the 90's and I really wanted to hate it. I swore that I wouldn't enjoy it, and I would rather have watched "Species" which was being shown at the same cinema. I have to confess that I ended up enjoying it, and if history has taught me something, "Chicken Run" has outlasted "Species" for its timeless charm and entertainment. This is family fun at its finest as it has something for audiences young and old. I totally understand that this kind of film isn't for everybody, but if you stop for a moment and at least give it a try like I had to, you probably will find some fun in this.
Queue the chicken themed puns.... This is an eggcelent movie which flows beautifully and never misses a chick - you could say its poultry in motion. If you fall fowl of watching, you'll be making clucking stupid decision. Eggs pecked to be entertained, laugh at some of the yolks, hen fowl in love with the characters in the charming film. (Ok, I'm done now) 7 out of 10 from me.