Chicken Run (2000)

3 out of 4

Starring: voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Tony Haygarth, Phil Daniels, Lynn Ferguson, Benjamin Whitrow

Directors: Peter Lord, Nick Park

Time: 84 mins

Chicken Run belongs to that stable of films made by Pixar (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and A Bug's Life), where animation brings to life a simple, fast-paced story with generous dollops of humour that will appeal to adults and plenty of visual gags that will hold the attention of children. Like Pixar, who are masters of the non-traditional computer generated animation feature, the team behind Chicken Run specialise in the relatively non-traditional animation form known as claymation, a special technique using clay models. Having worked on Wallace and Gromit, the team of Nick Park and Peter Lord now bring their talents to the big screen, in a riotous update of the wartime classic The Great Escape. This time, however, the story is set on a chicken farm.

Ginger (Julia Sawalha) is a hen who has tried numerous methods to escape the farm run by the profit-driven Mrs Tweedy (Miranda Richardson) and her dim-witted husband (Tony Haygarth). The other chickens in the coop, including Mac (Lynn Ferguson) and Fowler (Benjamin Whitrow), are sympathetic to Ginger's efforts but realise they need a miracle. That miracle comes in the form of Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson), a brash American rooster who can apparently fly. Ginger sees Rocky as their salvation, and urges him to teach them how to fly. Meanwhile, Mrs Tweedy puts into motion a plan to turn all the chickens on her farm into chicken pies. Will Ginger's plan succeed, or will the chickens end up being encased in pastry and gravy?

The similarities to The Great Escape are obvious, and it's great fun to see some signature scenes from that film being mimicked. Other films such as Braveheart and Raiders of the Lost Ark are referenced as well. Park and Lord also add an extra dimension with the inclusion of Rocky Rhodes, though he's only in about half the movie. The opportunity for a string of chicken puns are taken advantage of throughout the film, with so many uttered by pun-lover Gibson himself that one suspects fowl play (sorry, couldn't resist!). The only facets where it pales in comparison to the Pixar films are the lack of depth to the story and the secondary characters, who aren't as well-developed. You'll have so much fun anyway that you probably won't notice.

The animation is seamless enough that after a while you won't even think that you're watching a bunch of clay figures. The difference between this film and the latest Disney efforts in traditional 2-D animation (eg. Tarzan) is that the Disney films have become generic, soulless and uninspired. There is also a lot of inherent humour in watching a bunch of chickens waddle about and do their daily business, even as they are planning their great escape.

Though Mel Gibson is obviously the big name drawcard, the other voices of mainly British actors hold up well. Julia Sawalha (many of you may remember her as Lydia from the recent TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice) is quite impressive as Ginger, conveying concern as well as sweetness. Mel is his usual brash self, though his role is less substantial than one might think. Miranda Richardson grits her teeth as the feared Mrs Tweedy, and Benjamin Whitrow revels in his role as a former Royal Air Force chicken.

All forms of animation are hard enough technically without having to entertain adults and children alike. That films like those from Pixar and now Chicken Run succeed is because they consider the whole audience, and not just a particular age group. There are enough jokes for both youngsters and grown-ups, and indeed, the more "adult" humour is probably funnier than that found in many live-action comedies. If you don't consider animation as strictly for children, go see Chicken Run. And even if you do, give it a try anyway. You might just have a rollicking good time.

(c) Joe Wong (28 November 2000)