TL;DR – While it does not quite hit the heights of the first film, it is still a fun time.  

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget Review –

Well, if there has been something I have been waiting for an age for, it is a dive back into the world of Chicken Run. The original film was such a delight that it still sits in my Top 10 Animation Films of All Time list. However, after some understandable voice cast changes and some less understandable changes, some concerns did slip in. Thus, it is time to see if lighting can strike twice in the world of clay animation.

So to set the scene, it has been some time since Ginger (Thandiwe Newton), Rocky (Zachary Levi), Bunty (Imelda Staunton), Mac (Lynn Ferguson), Babs (Jane Horrocks), and Fowler (David Bradley) escaped from Mrs Tweedy’s (Miranda Richardson) farm and landed in the bird sanctuary. Since then, they have founded a new society, built houses, planted all sorts of crops, and started having chicks. Well, Ginger and Rocky’s daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey) is at that age where she wants to understand the world outside of their little island, with all the drive of her mother. But when a new road is built, and the danger of humans reappears, the chickens decide to hide rather than fight, which is when Molly decides to sneak out in the middle of the night.

It did take a bit to get used to the new voices, and I think partly because Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi are so well known that you can struggle to separate them for a while. I think it does help that we are in familiar territory to help ground the narrative. On that front, what we start with is a very common coming-of-age storyline. You have parents who struggle with the fact that their child is just like them and are shocked that she escaped when that is precisely what they would have done. It sort of follows a very predictable route from there, but with a couple of moments towards the end, it shocked me with how far they were willing to go. Maybe this is one to check before young children watch.

Once again, the highlight of the film is the production design. Every moment we spent at the bird reserve was a delight, and I would have loved to see more of the weird contraptions they used to make that society work. This is also the movie that confirmed that I kind of dig Bond– villain-esk architecture. Yes, Kevin McCloud, come watch me build this lookout at the top of a mountain lair. But I digress. The best part of the film was seeing all the gadgets as they reverse-heisted themselves into the farm, which is possibly the oddest structure in the whole movie that reminds me of part-Squid Games, part-Barbie Land, and part-Teletubbies.

While the film did start out strong, things did start to drag from the moment the villains revealed their plan. Everything starts to grind to a halt as the many moving parts need to come together and then peel apart again. You can feel them not quite being sure of the tone they want to use, and it makes some of the more extreme moments fall a bit flat. Also, Mrs Tweedy just isn’t compelling enough as a villain for a dual outing. On that front, didn’t they show more chicks at the end of the last film? What happened to them?

In the end, do we recommend Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget? Well, generally, it was a perfectly fine film, and few people do Claymation as well as Aardman. However, in a year that had such strong animated films, and with its own legacy, I think this may get lost in the shuffle. If you liked Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, we would recommend to you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
Directed by – Sam Fell
Screenplay by – Karey Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell & Rachel Tunnard
Story by – Karey Kirkpatrick & John O’Farrell
Based on – Chicken Run by Peter Lord, Nick Park & Karey Kirkpatrick
Music by – Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography by – Charles Copping
Edited by – Stephen Perkins
Production/Distribution Companies – Aardman Animations, Netflix Animation & Netflix
Starring – Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Bella Ramsey, Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, David Bradley, Jane Horrocks, Romesh Ranganathan, Daniel Mays, Josie Sedgwick-Davies, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Mohammed, Miranda Richardson & Julia Sawalha
Rating – Australia: PG;