I enjoyed this movie.

Rating: 8/10 (15 February 2018)

Chicken run had me engaged and laughing for the entirety of the movie. It was a great film that invited you into the life of chickens on a chicken farm. The innocent humor and Claymation style of the movie can get anyone to laugh and appreciate the film simultaneously. I enjoyed watching the ongoing feud between the chickens and their farmer, Mr. Tweedy, while also watching the ongoing battle of Mr. Tweedy trying to prove to his wife, Mrs. Tweedy that the chickens are organized and smart, however she just thinks he's seeing things. The films detailed Claymation, cinematography, and humorous plot made for a great movie that almost anyone can enjoy.
The set and production of Chicken Run is spectacular. From the massive, clay 'concentration camp' layout of the chicken farm, to making dynamic scenes where people in the foreground and background are moving and blinking. I was amazed by the detail and quality of the stop motion work. The film uses many close-up shots that single out one character, making the stop motion process easier, however the filmmakers also used many wide-angle shots of the whole chicken farm, as well as shots of the inside of the chicken coops. Theses shots where extremely impressive because of the immense detail. Adjusting all the characters each frame, to make the movie seem more seamless and real is a painstaking process, and the hard work of Peter Lord and Nick Park shows and should be praised.
The directors developed characters very well, dozens of birds had well developed characters throughout the movie. Some tactics that were used to individualize so many different chickens were the morning roll call, and their secret meetings in the bunk houses. These scenes allowed for many different characters to have lines and develop their unique personalities. Aside from the chickens, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy also had well developed characters, Mr. Tweedy's family was traditionally poor egg farmers, and Mrs. Tweedy was tired of it. Thus, another example of Mrs. Tweedy expressing anger and loathing towards Mr. Tweedy. Ongoing relationships between characters were also points of humor and plot development, for example Rocky and Fowler shared a bunk, and Mr. Tweedy was always catching Ginger trying to escape, and Fetcher and Nick were always trying to get eggs from the chickens. Small interactions like these are tactics for character development and often foreshadowing and plot development.
The plot of the film was very consistent and the film had little to no tangents or useless scenes that were away from the plot. The film slowly builds up to the chicken's massive plan to escape the farm, while the owners of the farm had their own agenda to start killing the chickens and making chicken pie. This created a humorous battle between the chickens and Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy. Also on top of that, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy have their own comedic issues because Mr. Tweedy would always see the chickens scheming and doing humanlike things, but was never able to prove it to Mrs. Tweedy. Resulting in Mrs. Tweedy constantly getting angry at Mr. Tweedy. Although their bickering seemed like a tangent to the overall plot, it was often used as a tactic for plot advancement.
Chicken run was a fantastic movie that I would recommend to anyone. It is innocent comedy that will make you smile and keep you engaged. The production quality is incredible, especially for a full-length Claymation film. The directors Peter Lord and Nick Park have set the expectation high for future Claymation films, and have created an amazing example of what is possible with stop motion films.