Movie Haiku - Wallace & Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit

www.uk.yahoo.com/wallaceandgromit


Dir: Nick Park & Steve Box


Voices: Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Peter Kay


What's eating the veg?

see this film quickly before

it goes up in flames


It's been a long time coming but the wait is finally over - the first Wallace & Gromit movie is here. The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit sees our trusty pairing of northern inventor Wallace (Sallis) and his faithful dog Gromit protecting the neighbourhood's crop of vegetables from rabbits - or other unseen predators - ahead of the town's giant vegetable competition, organised by Lady Tottington (Bonham Carter) who Wallace secretly has an eye for. Wallace is called to clear her lawn of rabbits using his latest contraption and then attempts to condition the rabbits so that they won't want to eat vegetables again, using himself as a test subject to influence them. Naturally there are unforeseen side effects... After the duo's previous Oscar winning short features there's something reassuring about seeing these popular British creations being given their own movie alongside the Hollywood giants of Pixar and Dreamworks, and Japan's Studio Ghibli. The animation of course is faultless and the Aardman team manage to evoke such a range of expressions on their characters' faces, especially the ever-silent Gromit. Sallis' voice is now synonymous with the character of Wallace - you really can't imagine anyone else taking on the role - and here he's aided by Bonham Carter, Fiennes (as love rival Victor Quartermaine) and Kay who all lend their vocal talents to the film. What slightly disappoints is the story itself which is a little too lightweight to stretch to a full length feature. Maybe I was just tired, but after thirty minutes I found my attention wandering and it never really drew me back in after that point. Sure, it's all good fun - and the younger members of the audience certainly lapped it up - but I just found it all a bit too familiar and lacking in any real invention - which is a shame considering Wallace's pedigree.

soulmining rating: ***