Chicken Run (2000)

Chicken Run is a delightful little stop-motion picture film revolved around chickens that are tired of their boring old lives on the farm. One of the more daring chickens, Babs, knows that they are only being used to create eggs for the farmers and, once they cannot perform anymore they head to the chopping block. Knowing this, she desperately tries to escape the confinement that is the chicken coop, but she fails time and time again. One morning, out of the sky falls a rooster named Rocky who told the chickens that he knew how to fly and could teach them. Sadly, he had hurt his wing in the fall, so he could not do any demonstrations for the other chickens. Every day the chickens would practice flapping their wings and jumping off the rooves of their homes, but no luck. Then the wife, and the REAL owner of the farm, decides the eggs are not making enough money she invests in a machine that would consume mass amounts of chickens and turn them into "homemade" chicken pot pies. When the chickens realized this, they were in an absolute time crunch to escape their inevitable death. By this time, Rocky's wing had healed and they all demanded him do a demonstration for them the next morning. Knowing that he could not really fly on his own, he put up a poster that showed him getting shot out of a cannon and left in the middle of the night. The chickens were then forced to come up with another plan, they were going to build a plane. They stole supplies from the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy, as well as used wood from their own coops. The chickens were barely able to finish the plane in time to beat the machine being built. As they prepare the runway for takeoff Mrs. Tweedy attempts to sabotage them but, Rocky comes back to help. They launch off into the air thinking all is well but, in a last effort Mrs. Tweedy grabs on. They end up kicking her off and escape into the sunset. They then live happy ever after on their own island.This movie was great for all ages, although it may be meant for younger children, anyone is able to enjoy the family-friendly movie. It really captivates the audience with its diverse genre category. It keeps things light with a lot of comedic scenes to overlook the darker plot of chickens being murdered. There were a handful of times I caught myself chuckling at the various scenes showing you do not need to be young to laugh at this movie. When Rocky arrives into the movie there is an obvious love story brewing between him and Babs, the main chicken behind all the schemes. This drama aspect of the film really gets the viewers to connect with the characters and feel for them. It creates a bond that really captures you into the movie. Lastly, their action-packed escape from the farmers and the death machine has viewers gripping their seats, wondering what is going to happen. Throughout this movie the writers do a great job building suspense and keeping the viewer on edge. There are two main areas that demonstrate this well. The first being when Babs and Rocky get stuck in the pie making machine. Rocky sees Babs hanging upside down with her feet chained to a conveyor belt on the wall. He runs after her to try and catch her before she falls into a large metal tube that leads into the machine. The slow chase builds suspense in the viewers. Left and right they get so close to death, yet they somehow escape, each time by just a hair. Secondly, when they are in the middle of their final escape, Mrs. Tweedy is hanging on to a string of lights that got loose trying to take off. Babs is trying to cut the lights, so she falls but Mrs. Tweedy pulls out an axe and tries to chop her head off. After she swings we see just a chicken body holding on, giving the impression that she was dead, but she ducked just in time. The writers used this fight to build suspense and give us the false impression that the main character had just been killed.This movie also uses a lot of classic editing styles. To start off they used the Three-Part POV shot inspired by Hitchcock many times when Mr. Tweedy would be spying on the chickens with his binoculars. We would see Mr. Tweedy in the window looking at the chickens, then we would view into the binoculars and see the chickens trying to fly, then it would zoom out and Mr. Tweedy would react with astonishment and check again. This time, he would just find them doing regular chicken-like activities. Another editing style they used which is used in many modern films is classical cutting. Many times, they would show characters walking out of frame and instead of following them it would just cut to another frame that they are just beginning to walk into as if it was just continuous the entire time.

When I was a kid, I practically ate this movie up as a kid, and watching now as a teenager, it still holds up very well. I've always admired stop-motion, and Aardman has always been quite gifted in crafting delightful characters, worlds and stories through the media. In the case with this film (which is their first feature-length film funny enough), it centers around a pack of chickens in a farm trying to escape said farm and live a peaceful life away from the cruel farmers who want to cook them to earn bigger profits. Along the way, a rooster accidentally lands in the farm, and he teaches them how to fly to escape said farmers. The result is a funny, charming, beautiful and at times emotional POW story that does great service to the likes of The Great Escape.What's well contrasted about the chicken coup is that it also feels like a prison, creating a sense of terror and suspense for the chickens. Adding on to a well layered story, the jokes are very witty and add some spunk and charm to the characters. However, the film is also not afraid of getting dark, as whenever the farmers are near the chickens, you can only pray that those hens will get out of there alive. The attempts at sentimentality hit very well as we feel for the main hen Ginger and her goal to leave her horrid life and to get out and find a new home, something that many people stuck in horrible lives wish to fulfill.Most if not all the characters are just delightful. Ginger is the smartest of all the chickens, is always thinking up each plan, and while she does have her disagreements with Rocky the rooster, they do grow more fond of each other and it's very sweet whenever they bond. Speaking of Rocky, while his arch is the typical liar revealed story line you'd find in other films, he does grow a soft side for the hens and his snarky attitude only fits in to how charming he is. As for the other hens, they range from amusing and smart witted like Gabs and Mac to more stubborn like Bunty and Fowler, but that fits in to the contrasting views of what they can do to escape. Oh yeah, and the rats Nick and Fletcher are madly amusing and do help the chickens out, so they're good in my book.And then there's Mrs. Tweedy, the co-owner of the chicken farm and wife of the absent-minded albeit occasionally demanding Mr. Tweedy. She is so threatening from her appearance that whenever she's on screen, she gives me goosebumps. Add on her ferocious dogs and you've got a villain who will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and in this case, to turn all her chickens into pies to gain higher salaries...seriously, don't mess with Tweedy.Technical wise, this movie is marvelous. The sets look well detailed, the characters are in the usual simple yet amusing Aardman style, the effects are superb, and the flying scenes are just...stellar. Even though this was Aardman's first feature film, they went all out in crafting a great setting for where the film's core is, and they never hold back in giving the characters such unique and layered body expressions. Oh, and the gravy machine....pure masterpiece.And last but certainly not least, the music score. Harry-Gregson Williams and John Powell tangle with an upbeat lively score and a more suspenseful heist score that really add to the tension of each scene. There are many solid works in England when it comes to animation, and Chicken Run is no exception. While the liar revealed story and the occasional dodgy character play afloat, the film's solid animation, lovable cast of characters, well layered story, and charming score really make it a solid flick worth watching. If you have a kid of your own, pass this film on to them, and maybe then they'll have a favorite of theirs from their childhood that they'll stay forever attached to.

I would say it's a hoot, but it's about chickens, and a cluck just doesn't do it. In this masterwork of modern claymation, a flock of chickens realize that their World War II concentration camp setting is going result in all of them becoming dinner. Along comes Mel Gibson as a chicken (I suppose after saving the Colonies in "The Patriot" he needed other things to do. Anyway, the chickens are soon empowered to try to save themselves with the help of Mel. They become industrious. They already have some pretty amazing anthropomorphic talents, but trying to escape has not been one of them. They are ruled over by the Tweedys, a clumsy husband and wife team who start to realize what is happening. Because they are not doing well in the egg business, they buy a pie machine with the thought of butchering their animals and making them into pies. So the chips are down. Great animation and a really interesting premise.

Being a huge fan of Wallace & Gromit film series & old school WWII Prison films like 1963's "Great Escape" & 1953's 'Stalag 17", I was really looking forward to this movie, when it came out. It had a unique look to it, with its stop motion clay animation style. Directed by Nick Park & Peter Lord, and animated by Aardman Animations as the studio's first feature-length film; Chicken Run tells the story of a band of chickens lead by Ginger (Voiced by Julia Sawalha) trying to escape from certain death, when the owners of their farm, Mr. & Mrs. Tweedy (Voiced by Tony Haygarth & Miranda Richardson) decide to move from selling eggs to selling chicken pot pies. Can the smooth-talking Rhode Island Red named Rocky (Voiced by Mel Gibson) teach them to fly or will they end up, being the main course when Mrs. Tweedy get her hands on them? Watch the movie to find out! Without spoiling the movie, too much, I have to say, this movie was amazing that it even got finished. After all, Aardman weren't really sure at first, if they could pull off making clay figure of chickens moving in a set, because how awkward, they might had look, but somehow, they were able to make them look enchantingly believable. For a stop-motion animation film, this is some of the best work, I have saw. It was poultry in motion. The exceptional British voice-acting from the cast add to the unique characters in this film. The chickens are highly individual, completely believable, and wildly funny side characters. My favorite character in the film had to be Babs (Voiced by Jane Horrocks). Her posh-like speaking voice, matches so well with her character, very air-headed and spacy, jumping to strange conclusions and not fully grasping what's going on, behavior. Lots of laughs from her. However, there was a little language barrier with some of the Cockney and Scottish accents from other supporting characters like Mac (Voiced by Lynn Ferguson) & Nick (Voiced by Timothy Spall), that made me, scratching my head, due to them, being hard to understand. For the leads, Mel Gibson really stood out as the cocky American playboy here with the tone of his voice. He was really literally a chick magnet, back then. I also like, how his Australian accent wasn't showing at all. He really did sound like, he was from show business with his Hollywood-like attitude. Still, there was one thing that bug me, about his portrayal. I really, didn't like, that he didn't sound like he was from Rhode Island, in which his character is supposedly from. You would think, the movie would hint at that, a little more. Anyways, while the trailers, make it might seem like Mel Gibson is the main hero, it's Julia Sawalia as Ginger, who really stands out in this film. She really sounds like a woman with a plan. You really sense, the urgency within the tone of her voice. The villains were also well-played by Tony Haygarth & Miranda Richardson. They really do stand out, with their over-paranoia and axe-crazy personality. The humor is a mixed bag for me. There were a lot of moments that really did hit my funny bone, mostly in the British style of slapstick humor; yet some of the dry humor needed some more work. Then, there are some U.K pop-culture references that clearly went over my head, like the spoof sequence from 1951's Ace in the Hole or 1971's And Now for Something Completely Different. It didn't make a lick of sense, to us, Americans, but for the most part, I understood, most of the jokes. Some of the jokes could be a little too complex for children, but for the most part, it works within its means. Despite, being stuck in one-location, the movie is full of action and adventure. I love every minute of it, from escaping pie-making machines to the climatic airplane chase. The music score from Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell really add to the epic scope of these scenes. One scene, that really bug me, was any of the scenes with the rats. I really thought, they would had been cut out. The whole scene where they're debating on, what came first, the chicken or the egg was somewhat annoying and drawn out. It was the only problem, within what might seem, like a very well-paced film. Still, the story was mostly 'alright' category for me. Mainly because the story wasn't really anything new and often full of clichés. The whole third act, "liar revealed" cliché wasn't really needed with its gloom. Regardless, I'm still glad, that Nick Park and Peter Ford cut some of the darker sequences from the film such as like; Fowler (Voiced by Benjamin Whitrow) being an abusive alcoholic & a chicken eaten by the watchdogs in an escape attempt. That would be way too grim for a children film. Overall: I like this, incredibly creative, highly detailed, animated film. Memorable characters and a cool prison escape plot, made this, a must-watch. So don't be a chicken, go run and see this movie.