The first big Netflix original movie of the year delivers across the board. Nevertheless, the sequel to a cult series did not make it into the streaming service’s top 10 at launch.
As a rule, you can rely on it: When Netflix releases one of its big originals, it appears in the top 10 most popular films or series just a few hours later. So it’s all the more surprising that the first big title of the year was barely noticed in the film sector: Wallace & Gromit: Revenge of the Flying Birds.
Three years ago, the second full-length feature film from the stop-motion cosmos was announced, which has been thrilling audiences with exciting and quirky stories and lots of modeling clay since 1989. To make sure the movie doesn’t get completely lost, we want to take this opportunity to recommend the new Wallace & Gromit adventure to you again.
Wallace & Gromit on Netflix: In Retribution with Wings, an AI garden gnome causes trouble
Life could be so beautiful if you didn’t have to deal with those pesky everyday chores. At least that’s what Wallace thinks when he’s tinkering with one of his inventions. His latest creation: the Norbot. The garden gnome, controlled by artificial intelligence, is supposed to make gardening easier for Gromit – but it quickly seizes complete control of the green paradise in the backyard.
The trailer for Wallace & Gromit: Retaliation with Wings:
Before Gromit knows what’s happening, Wallace has bred an entire army of Norbots that jump into action without flinching. The once lovingly designed garden becomes a rigidly modeled cage. And then the devious Feathers McGraw turns up. The thieving penguin has a score to settle with Wallace and manipulates the garden gnomes.
A series of misunderstandings leads to disaster: Wallace thinks that he is doing everything right and better with his inventions, without seeing how Gromit suffers from his zeal. He doesn’t even notice how Feathers McGraw takes over the Norbots. How can he miss the most obvious things? Bad for Gromit, good for us: this dynamic is the driving force behind a lot of action and humor.
In the footsteps of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and the latest Mission: Impossible movie
Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park and his creative team have not forgotten what makes the clay animation so good after all these years. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is lovingly designed and offers more playful details in every scene than you can grasp at first glance. A treasure trove of discovery, almost like Wallace’s absurd inventions and all the lawsuits that go with them.
Unlike Wallace, Park has a firm grasp of his craft and once again proves himself to be a master of stop-motion animation. It’s absolutely astounding how fluidly one moment transitions into the next, while the available cinematic vocabulary is generously exhausted. The slapstick ignites just as it did with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. And the action is on Mission: Impossible blockbuster level.
In the finale, Retribution with Wings even seems like the Kent version of the last act of Mission: Impossible 7. The fact that we follow a chase at walking speed doesn’t matter: Park and his co-director Merlin Crossingham know exactly how to get maximum thrills out of even the most unexciting animation – with a literal and figurative drop height.
The new Wallace & Gromit movie inspires with Norbot and turns out to be an anti-AI manifesto
The biggest star of the film, however, is Norbot and his mechanical colleagues. The way the garden gnomes turn their heads, raise their arms and stomp around – every movement is pure gold and can be stretched in unexpected directions, so that we are not just dealing with comedy characters. Sometimes the robots appear as horror figures.
