Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

A sequel to the 2000 (!) Aardman hit. This time the chickens have to break into a farm to save their daughter, risking life and wing in the process.

It’s unclear where the idea or demand for this sequel came from but it’s always fun to see a new Aardman animation. This time around Julia Sawalha and Mel Gibson are gone, the former presumably not famous enough and the latter not someone people want to work with any more, now replaced with Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi.

Though it lacks some of the easy going charm of the first film and there are fewer layers to the comedy, Dawn of the Nugget nevertheless went down a hit on Christmas Day. What it does carry over from other Aardman films is a creative and tactile animation style, and a truly sinister plot with disturbing villains.

Funny enough and brief enough to be worth your time, albeit not an instant classic.

Merry Christmas everybody.