Just when I thought Aardman had lost their magic, they proved me wrong with this film.
When it was announced I was skeptical. It seemed like a cash grab to bring back Feathers McGraw. Thankfully, the story felt like a natural sequel. The opening is reminiscent of Cape Feare. Everything from the tone, humour, and action all felt like it was natural extension of the Wallace & Gromit films. It also helps that Nick Park was the co-director. As Toy Story…
This tore my brain in two.
On a technical level, it's a 3/10 movie... but as sheer entertainment, it's a 9/10. This is my textbook definition of a guilty pleasure.
To give credit where it's due, it's not all bad. The opening scene is more entertaining than The World Is Not Enough. The premise is not bad either. 007 is on a mission in North Korea, his cover gets blown, and gets taken prisoner. 14 months later, he's let go…
With tour-de-force direction, animation, editing, musical & comedic timing, Tortoise Wins by a Hare is up there with some of the best Bugs Bunny shorts ever made.
Bob Clampett has made the most ENERGETIC and INSANE Looney Tunes shorts EVER. Baby Bottleneck is such a fast-paced, action-packed, humorous, gag-filled short there's not enough to absorb all in one viewing. The animation for instance, there are so many HUGELY over-the-top gestures and facial expressions that you only start to notice on a 2nd, 3rd, 4th viewing etc. Clampett is cartooning in the purest form.
