Pretty Good

Rating: Null/10 (5 September 2001)

As a big Wallace and Grommit fan, I eagerly awaited this chick flick. And the technique is exquisite. It starts off very well and ends in a burst of excitement. The only problem is that it may sag a little too much in the middle for young children (or old people like me). While the running time may be a little long (it would be worth paying full ticket price if it had been only an hour in length), causing it to drag at times, it nevertheless is a remarkable achievement whose pluses will invariably outweigh its piddling minuses.
A word about some of the namby-pamby reviewers. We coddle our children too much. We're afraid they'll have nightmares. We shelter them from the idea that there's pain in the world. How many people remember the horror of Disney's "Snow White"? I was scared to death, seeing it as a kid, yet I'm perfectly normal. Sure, there's a chicken beheading, but it's necessary to make the threat of the Tweedys clear. Otherwise the obsession with escape doesn't make a lot of sense to the modern liberal mind, where sitting around, being fed by the owners (or government), even without freedom, is the goal. After all, the hens, for the most part, didn't know they weren't free; only one dreamer (Ginger) suspected there was more to life than what she'd always known. The same people who object to even the hint that one of the hens died a violent death probably don't object to exposing their kids to bad language and sexual stuff, blatant or innuendo. The execution is what makes the movie works, and children of all ages should see it. Besides, it happens early on and they'll get over it. So get over it.