Ginger and Rocky leave their island sanctuary and return to the mainland to rescue their daughter Molly.
It’s been 23 years since the release of Chicken Run but Aardman Animations have finally brought us a sequel.
Following their great escape from Mrs. Tweedy’s farm in the 2000 movie, Ginger (now voiced by Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (now Zachary Levi) and their fellow chicken escapees Babs (Jane Horrocks), Bunty (Imelda Staunton) and Mac (Lynn Ferguson) now live in an island paradise away from pesky humans.
Ginger and Rocky’s daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey), who was born on the island, gets bored of the peaceful, idyllic lifestyle and decides to explore the mainland.
Big mistake – Molly finds herself in a high-security chicken nugget-making factory! Ginger, Rocky and co. must leave their safe haven, break into the Fort Knox-style building and get everyone back out in one piece.
It is difficult for any sequel to live up to its beloved original when 23 years have passed. Chicken Run is a nostalgic childhood favourite for many, so it is no surprise that it isn’t as brilliant as its predecessor.
Although it doesn’t recapture the magic of the first, it’s not far off at all. The Mission: Impossible-style narrative isn’t quite as tight or focused as the original, it is still a delightful comedy adventure for all the family.
New director Sam Fell has managed to maintain the same tone and sense of humour with his stop-motion sequel.
It is laugh-out-loud funny, with the ditzy Babs, self-serious rooster Fowler (David Fowler) and the new Scouse chicken Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) bringing the comedy gold.
But it is a shame that Julia Sawalha, the original Ginger, was replaced by Newton. She should have been brought back alongside Horrocks, Staunton and Ferguson!
Bizarrely, Newton doesn’t sound like herself in the movie and it was almost as if she was trying to emulate Sawalha’s version of Ginger. Levi also did the same thing by attempting to sound like Mel Gibson’s Rocky and it was rather jarring.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget doesn’t reach the heights of its predecessor – but that would have been impossible. Despite this, the sequel is still a really fun stop-motion animation.
Streaming on Netflix from Friday 15th December.
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