Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Another Plot to Hatch

or

Can They Pullet Off?

It's been 23 years since Chicken Run, the splendid little film that used the basics of The Great Escape in a tale of a flock of chickens penned at the Tweedy Farm, who decide to escape the fate of being the main ingredient in pot pies, decide not to be a brood about it and flock off in a mass eggs-odus. It was funny, clever and—as in the style of its studio, Aardman Animations—up to its beak in fine details, rendered one frame at a time through stop-motion animation.

 

It's a laborious process, that, despite the work-load, never looked rushed, and, if anything, the animators only made things harder for themselves by having all sorts of activity—seemingly going to each frame's event horizon—to keep track of before moving on to the next 24th of a second. Aardman has been doing this for 34 years, since the creation of their first short film, the Oscar-winning Creature Comforts. Their last film before this was 2018's Early Man, which, while still being clever and all, seemed to have a slight dip in overall quality of the production. The story was just a little off, even if the aanimation remained aastounding.

So, what have the plucky chickens from Tweedy's been doing? Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget gives the answer. Like any good meta-sequel, there's been some reproducing. Rocky (voiced by Zachary Levi) and Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) welcome an egg to the family, the precocious Molly (Bella Ramsey), who has inherited her father's sense of adventure and her mother's rebellious, stubborn streak. She is doted on by the other ex-Tweedy's, but the parents have to admit Molly is one tough chick to handle.

Molly is curious about life off their community island, especially as there seems to be a lot of activity going on around what used to be the Tweedy Farm. But, Ginger discourages this, even as she's coping with her own PTSD about the escape from the previous film and the past treachery of Mrs. Tweedy (Miranda Richardson). But, Molly can't be repressed and one night she makes her way to the mainland to get an answer to her questions. This sends Ginger into a panic and she sets up a squad—a "wild bunch" if you will—to try to find Molly and get her back to the island and coop her up.

Molly has made progress of a sort; she's run into a contemporary chicken named Frizzle (Josie Sedgwick-Davies) who is on a trek to find a wonderful place she's heard about called "Fun-Land Farms" which appears to be a place where chickens can run free and enjoy life to the fullest. Their motto is "Where Chickens Find Their Happy Ending"—sounds...promising? And their logo has a happy chicken in a bucket giving two thumbs up. Hardly ominous at all, and Frizzle is determined to go there and get her own bucket.

Alright, synopsis over—no one wants spoiled Chicken—but one can guess that "Fun-Land Farms" is not what one expects—a more sinister version of how corporate theme parks disappoint. Complications ensue and Ginger's squad takes on an IMF resemblance to stop the evil overlords at "Fun-Land" and return home. It's much too soon for Rocky and Ginger to be empty-nesters.

I did a Lambcast this week where we discussed Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and the consensus was that it was ("welllll...") good and all, but not as good as the first one (conceding, of course, that this one lacks the initial element of surprise), and I took umbrage at that. It may not be all the first one was, but it's damned good and is one of the better Aardman movies. Yes, they can do a clunker—I don't remember being quite as enthused with Early Man—and reading the review, the prevailing sentiment was "okay, it doesn't add up to much, but the work involved..." If it was absolutely for naught, all that sweat would have been a waste.

That sentiment roseates the edges of my feelings about this one, but I think the results are far more accomplished...and earned than that Early movie. There are so many details to be discovered—there are whole scenes that look like a "Where's Waldo?" panel with their own little individual stories going on that a re-watch is almost mandatory (it's almost a blessing that the thing is only available on Netflix making repeat viewings effortless). The comic timing is cracking-good, and there are technical pleasures...the eye-twitch of brain-washed chickens, the demo-reel that is so spot on it might have appeared on "Mad Men," the sheer delightful perils that the chickens are challenged with*...and there are moments of just random silliness that bubble-up the best of Aardman's movies. I spent the entire time watching it with a big smile on my face...when my brain wasn't shutting down with the surges of information that were coming off the screen.**

There was a slight disconnect with the character of Rocky—Zachary Levi's goofy self-confidence is a different tone than Mel Gibson's goofy self-confidence—but, for the most part, it all seems of a piece, and one should also state that Aardman has upped its game technically and artistically from the first film while still maintaining that trademark Aardman bubble-off-plumb sensibility.

One should never refuse a second helping of Chicken Run.

Wilhelm Alert at 00:34:34. 

 

* ...and the sets are magnificent. Ken Adam would be proud...or Disney.

 

** I may have talked about this before, but there have been moments sitting in a theater where the vast overwhelming output of a movie have made me fall asleep. It's not that I'm bored. It's not that I hadn't snoozed the night before. It's that the movie so overwhelms me that I...pass out. This happens with a lot of Terry Gilliam movies (Brazil, Baron von Munchausen, for example) and before I see one of his movies I coffee up so I don't miss anything.

 

I'm perfectly willing to admit that I might have a screw loose up there, given the ample evidence of my life.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

It's Always 🗲Shazammy🗲 in Philadelphia

or

"It's Fam-i-ly Feud!"

"All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Leo Tolstoy, "Anna Karenina" 1878

 

When last we left Billy Batson (Asher Angel), he'd just turned his foster-brothers and sisters into a collection of super-heroes to defeat an evil threat. By invoking the name of the wizard "Shazam"(Djimon Hounsou), they turn into the "Marvel Family" (but nobody calls them that because...lawyers), with, collectively, the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, the speed of Mercury...and the neuroses of foster teens. Strange brew.

 

Particularly shouldering these burdens is Billy, who, in his superhero guise as an adult-looking "Captain Marvel" (shhh..."lawyers"...but played by Zachary Levi), he is responsible for the safety of the city of Philadelphia and the management of his family, super-powered and not. It can weigh on a guy. But, then, he has the stamina of Atlas, so, "no big deal," right?

"Say my name!" ("'Destiny's Child' did it better")

Well, it depends on your point of view. He does have the stamina of Atlas, but as Atlas is dead and all, he's probably not using it anymore. Right? So, why not have it? Right? Possession is 9/10 of the law, right? Even if you're "possessed" by a super-hero.

Except for one thing. Three things, really. Atlas had children, a few from different sources, but like all family fights, it usually comes down to the most outspoken ones to stir the pot, so the ones that matter are his daughters Hespera (Helen Mirren), Calypso (Lucy Liu) and Anthea (Rachel Zegler)* Notice the family resemblance? No? Well, like I said "different sources"; call them the step-daughters of Atlas.

  

Being heirs, they're not too thrilled with "family assets" being seized and given to "strangers..."—why, it's not even someone in the family, for god's sake (literally). Besides, not having Atlas' power is making living in whatever god-realm they inhabit in their pearly-gated community less than optimal. I mean, so what if you're a god, even an unfashionable god—a god that's not exactly making people hit their knees anymore—they still have a right to what's theirs!

And so, they deem to get their sandals sullied on real Earth and take back the Wizard's staff that contained all of the power of the gods that were transferred to "The Marvel Family" rather than "The Atlas Family" during the kerfluffle with Dr. Sivana in the last movie. Just putting their mitts on it is enough to generate some power out of it and they use it to smash up a museum and turn all of its patrons into stone. And before you can say "who in their right mind would put something that powerful into a museum?" the Marvels go into action.

Well, not immediately. First, Billy has to visit a doctor about his issue with "imposter syndrome"—he is a 17 year old who becomes an adult super-hero, after all!—the burdens of great power/great responsibility, that he might be a redundant in a world full of super-hero movies (he doesn't mention that, I just added it), and...that at 17, he's going to "age-out" of the foster-care system, and his parents won't be getting support for him. That's a big issue, one that occupies his thoughts even while the "Marv's" try to stop a bridge from collapsing during rush-hour.

But, the Wizard tells them of the impending threat, and the kids try to figure out how to fight mad adults who are gods, or "children of god." The humor of the film comes from the awkwardness of 'tweens trying to be adults, as well as the odd arcana of their Rock of Eternity headquarters that is as idiosyncratic as Hogwarts (heat is provided by an eternally burning violin—Nero's?—and there's an enchanted auto-pen named "Steve"). 

Meanwhile the Atlas kids are using the Wizard's staff to suck the shazam! out of the Marvel kids individually, while also trying to acquire a "golden apple" to rebuild Earth into their kingdom. Oh, and there's a dome—a big impenetrable energy dome surrounding Philadelphia that traps everybody, including our heroes inside. And creatures that look like they came out of Harryhausenland. And unicorns. And a dragon. At one point, Cap just comes out and says "I never thought I'd be saying this, but the dragon is the least of our problems now."

Sounds like it would be a mess, but, it surprisingly isn't. The humor isn't strained, as much as is going on. Levi maintains the "gee-whiz-I'm a dork" persona that makes the adult Captain Marvel such a fun character, and there's "just enough" individualism in the Marvel kids to make you give a rip about 'em when they're getting slammed around. And there are joys, little unexpected "bits" where you shake your head at the cleverness—like Helen Mirren reading a negotiating note from the Marvels—who have no filters—dictated by an enchanted pen—that has no editing skills. And the youngish cast, who are riffing, and moving things along at warp-speed.

The characters' powers have settled in, so there's none of that training awkwardness about their abilities as in the first movie, and maybe all the opportunities of kids acting like adults with super-powers isn't explored nearly enough. But, there's enough mocking earnestness that there were times when the matinee kid in me had their blood pressure up and wanted to see the bad guys get their comeuppance, just because they're very mean people...or demi-gods...or whatever. That hasn't happened to me for awhile in movies. Maybe it's because we've become used to evil that is so blatant and is constantly excused away with sanctimonious self-righteousness.

And ultimately (as Billy evokes "The Fast and the Furious" series in one scene—to Mirren, no less!) The Fury of the Gods really is about family—families that function and families that don't—compare and contrast—and the squabbling and scorched Earth that ensues—and, of course, it all takes place in Philadelphia and the villains are trashing the City of Brotherly Love (ironically). One can't help but see this as another episode of Family Feud...but without Steve Harvey to break the fourth wall to let you know he thinks it's all a little dumb, too.

 

There's a lot of entertainment value in it, a bit lighter in tone, but not lighter in content that the kids can see it and not be zombiefied. And as jokey as it is, as juvenile as it can be, a lot of it will go over kids' heads.

 

* Shazam! Fury of the Gods makes a mystery of the third one for a time, and her identity is revealed as a surprise that doesn't really "land." I mean, why did she suddenly turn up in the first place if she didn't have something crucial to do with the plot?

Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

Drawn to the Past

or

"Well, You Know How Memory Works..."

 

Some film-makers go back to recapture their youth. Supposedly, Orson Welles made The Magnificent Ambersons because it reminded him so much of his early childhood. Fellini made Amarcord. Francois Truffaut made The 400 Blows. George Lucas made American Graffiti. Francis Coppola drew on his family life on quite a few of his films. One always gets the impression from Wes Anderson's films that he's tapping into his early years. Robert Benton made Places in the Heart. Mel Brooks produced My Favorite Year. Noah Baumbach made The Squid and the Whale. The trend seems to be gathering momentum. Alfonso Cuaron made Roma. Lee Isaac Chung made Minari. Last year, Kenneth Branagh made Belfast. Paul Thomas Anderson made Licorice Pizza. Spielberg's next movie is The Fabelmans, which started as a screenplay by his sister, now adapted by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, and based on...growing up Spielberg.

 

Richard Linklater seems to specialize in it—both Dazed and Confused and Boyhood are coming of age movies drawn from his past. 

And now, he's hitting the nail on the head with Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood(streaming on Netflix), using animation to literally draw his past, growing up as a "space kid" in a Houston suburb during America's race to the Moon. A self-described "fabulist", Stan (Milo Coy, voiced as a narrating adult by Jack Black) is a clear-eyed recounting of everything about his childhood, from schoolyard games, pop culture, the usual fascinations and distractions of a male kid before he notices girls, but when it comes to the space program, his imagination takes him out of this world. In this way, he's a more extreme version of his Dad (Bill Wise), who works in shipping at NASA, but from listening to him, you'd think the whole program depends on him.

Stan is one day recruited by a couple of NASA officials, who, noting, his extraordinary abilities playing in the schoolyard, say that he's just the kid to take care of a little problem the space agency has—they've built the Lunar Excursion Module just a little too small to hold an adult, so they want to send him into space him to test land it on the Moon in secret before Apollo 11 attempts it in front of the whole wide televised world.* They'll explain his absence that he's "at camp" so the parents aren't concerned and nobody asks any questions, and then the kid will get a condensed version of the years of training in a month, so that he'll be best prepared do all the things that three astronauts can do...alone. With such a well thought-out plan, what could go wrong?

Yeah, it's not a documentary. But, you wouldn't know it from the rest of it. The details that Linklater fills his tale with are spot-on and recognizable to anyone growing up in the 1960's. From the eclectic library of "oddity" music to the touchstones of movies, games and TV (the rights issues on this thing must have been enormous). As one of those old coots who remember that time, Apollo 10½ made long-dormant synapses firing off every few moments, whereas younger viewers may be traumatized by the era's ever-present habit of smoking (in the house!!), neighborhood DDT "runs" and the last vestiges of the Eisenhower era of fashion. Heck, this was the era before computers and cell-phones; that's enough to discourage any millennial from time-traveling back to it.

One little error in this—Planet of the Apes would probably have had a second feature as part of a double-bill.

Those expecting a straight-ahead SpaceCamp kiddie space adventure will probably be miffed that Linklater spends so much of the film's screen-time on Earth-nostalgia—it's fully two-thirds of the film—rather than creating some complicated space scenario. Hey, it's his fantasy—believe me, at the time going to the moon was enough, and the revolutionary kid's space movie, Star Wars, was still eight years away. Plus, there's only so much you can do with a "going-to-the-moon" scenario, that is if you're going to stick with science fact in your science fantasy. Going to the Moon meant a lot of switch-flipping, dial monitoring, math, and keeping your lunch down until you had to do something that might kill you, like try to land the most-unlikely flying machine ever engineered on a pillar of flame without landing on a crater lip and toppling over.

For me, the nostalgia is the fun part (although it may feel as strange as steam-punk to anyone born this century). The space stuff is well-tread territory we've seen before and can smirk at here for its presumptions and naivete in its dream-like simplicity. Because it is a dream. It was a dream. It will continue to be a dream until they have a McDonald's on the Moon...and the other common things that made up daily life in Houston of 1969. And it was a dream shared by a planet full of sky-watchers, whose parents did the same, who can trace their lineage to the hominids who wondered what that thing in the sky was and watched its travels anticipating that time it might move closer and crash on us like a rock...as other rocks do.

And if Apollo 10½ doesn't recreate the moon landing as diligently as First Man did, what of it? It does recreate—just as carefully—what it was like being a kid...in thrall with the Moon.

* Yeah. No. I won't go into it but there are a LOT of reasons why this isn't real, but merely a child's fantasy with all the logic of a child's fantasy ("You ever get a 100% on your math tests? No? Well, there ya go..."). It's funny...there WAS an Apollo 10 a few months before with the mission to do everything Apollo 11 was supposed to do EXCEPT land. They went within 9 miles of the lunar surface and had to come back, without going that last 1%. Imagine how THAT felt. Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan and John Young were the astronauts on that frustrating mission. Young and Cernan got to land on the Moon and Cernan is the last man to walk on the Moon...so far. 

 

Shazam!

(Let's Just Say It) Captain Marvel II
or
The Big Red Cheese-Fest

One is tempted to quote Gomer Pyle and say "Sha-zayam!" at this, but for the fear of being struck by lightning, let's just say "Holy Moley," this movie is a lot of fun.

It's the second flick within a period of weeks to feature a super-hero named "Captain Marvel" (although he's never actually called that in the movie and the various "noms suprême" given to him during the movie is one of the funny running gags zipping through the movie). Why the double-vision is a complicated story involving lawyers and trademarks, and far better explained by writer (including comics) Mark Evanier from his blog "Notes From ME" than I could ever manage, so go to this link:
https://www.newsfromme.com/2019/03/13/ask-me-59/ 
and you'll find out about THOSE Captains Marvel (and a couple more).

Shazam! follows the latest imagining of the Captain (who's been around since 1939), where, instead of being a radio personality on WHIZ radio, the Captain's alter ego Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel) is your random orphan-kid, living in a foster home run by the Vasquez's (Cooper Andrews and Marta Milans) with a mix of kids, which fits in with the older iteration of the Captain that emphasized family and shared strengths.

And this one is so much fun, especially given the sturm and drang of so many super-hero movies (especially in the DC Movie Universe, but also in Marvel's movies, even the ones designed to be lighter), that one wishes everybody would be a bit more "larky" in their approach.

Now, having said that, be aware that the first twenty minutes of the movie are a bit tough to sit through, if you're expecting a good time. The beginning is very exposition-heavy, telling the story of young Thaddeus Sivana—smart, but mixed-up kid—growing up in a dysfunctional family (headed by John Glover, so you know there are problems) where he is the runt of the litter in a family of privileged jerks. After a traumatic event, he is tested by being offered powers by the aging wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou) and is found wanting—and left wanting the power he is denied. As Shazam stands guard over the powers of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury as well as the Seven Deadly Sins, he's feeling a bit tired, but even if he's in a hurry to be let go of his burden, he can still see that Sivana is not good hero-material. Best to look somewhere else.

Cut to young Billy Batson—troubled, unruly kid—who has run away from the latest in a series of orphanages and foster homes to try and find his mother, who abandoned him after he became lost in an amusement park. Young Billy uses subterfuge to hijack a police car, so he can travel to the next Batson residence on his list to see if his Mom is there. She isn't, and in a way that recalls how Buster Keaton would make an obvious visual gag out of mistaken identity.

Billy goes back to the orphanage where his record of truancy is brought up again—as if he didn't already know—and told that his last chance—his only chance—is waiting out in the other room. It is the Vasquez's, Rosa and Victor, who run a blended and extraordinarily diverse foster home for kids. Billy is skeptical, but it's his only chance and he's run out of addresses on his "Batson" list. 

He meets his other foster siblings: Mary (Grace Fulton), Darla (Faithe Herman), Eugene (Ian Chen), and Pedro (Jovan Armand), and finally his room-mate Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), who is crippled, walks with a brace and is a Class-A nerd, collecting all sorts of superhero memorabilia (his proudest possession being a bullet that bounced off Superman). Billy is stand-offish to Freddy, as he is with everyone in the Vasquez household, and they view him as a potentially good addition if he was only accepting of the situation.

He attends Fawcett Middle School with the rest of the kids and is probably thinking about his first opportunity to ditch when fate steps in—or stomps—in the form of some stuck-up bullies who proceed to beat up Freddy for...well, just being Freddy. Billy sees this as he is walking away and he turns around, picks up Freddy's brace and proceeds to wallop the creeps with it. It is this act that changes Billy's life, and fortunately for us, the movie.

Billy takes the subway and it makes an unscheduled stop—the same Rock of Eternity, where Shazam makes Billy the same offer made to Sivana—"speak my name"—and Billy, in a flash of lightning, becomes Capta—well, much older and in a flashy red spandex outfit and cape (and portrayed by Zachary Levi). It is Shazam's last act, and Billy, panic-stricken, runs out of the cave...and into the real world.

But, not the real world he knows. He's taller, stronger, and there are lightning bolts coming out of his fingers...and he's in this weird suit! His first stop already shows the change in his attitude—he seeks out Freddy. Freddy will know what to do (he doesn't), but he's more than willing to experiment on his friend Billy to find out what his powers are—he can punch through concrete and he can throw lightning from his finger-tips...and...most importantly...he can buy beer!

The whole sequence inside a convenience store is just too much fun to spoil, but it sets up the way the film will go, with two kids with a sudden knowledge of what it's like to be 1) a grown-up and 2) a super-powered grown-up. Here, it takes a page from the late Penny Marshall's Big (there's even a momentary acknowledgment to it) and then flies with it. For Freddy, this is a dream come true, a wish-fulfillment for a smart kid with bad legs to have a super-pal; for Billy, it's a mixed blessing. 

Although he's supposed to have the wisdom of Solomon, he's still a kid and he has no idea how to do this "superhero" thing, but he's going to learn the advantages (he looks like an adult, and more importantly, treated like one, he's big, strong, and can fly) and the disadvantages—people want what he has or put him down in a big way. And he's going to have to grow up pretty fast.

Sometimes being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be—it's not all rescuing kittens out of trees and getting keys to the city from the Mayor—and it attracts bad people who want to build themselves up by beating him and taking away some of his glory. But, Billy doesn't "get" that, at the beginning. He's content to just wandering around being a "superhero," doing super-tricks and getting himself in a lot of selfies. That should keep him out of trouble. although Freddy is disappointed that he won't be more...yaknow...super-heroic.

But, Billy can't run away from Sivana (grown up to be Mark Strong, who can now do villain roles in his sleep), who now possesses the avatars of the Seven Deadly Sin's—big deal: what do you do with the power of "Sloth?"—and wants Billy's god-like powers, too. It is only when the villain takes his foster-siblings hostage that Capt...uh, Billy must make a stand and become the hero Shazam intended and the world needs.

Forget about what the world needs, what about the movie-going public? The Marvel and DC movies have been so heavy—despite throwing in a humorous line or two—that they're more like watching Shakespeare tragedies than being any fun. It seems like the first movies are okay and then it's inevitable with the second movie that the hero is disenchanted with being a superhero and wants to quit. Quit? What kind of hero is THAT? Having abilities should be a joy, not a burden, and being able to do good for people should be aspirational, not treated like it's a dumb thing to do because you'll only get betrayed in the end.

Thank the Greek gods, Shazam! isn't so melodramatic. It can't be. It's from a kid's perspective and to a kid, having super-powers is totally cool, and the players are wonderfully geeky about expressing the delight and wonder of being able to be fast, and leap buildings in almost a single bound, and doing all those things that superheroes do...like having a "secret lair," or showing up bad guys. 
That puts a big burden on the actors to walk a fine line between "gee-whiz" and irritatingly cloying. And Angel, Grazer and particularly Levi manage to be genuinely energetic but also have a crack comic timing that makes every surprise pay off to its maximum. You enjoy the experience, rather than spending your time looking for "Easter Eggs"

It's a blast. So, go ahead, let Marvel take out half the Universe. Just means there's more room for guys like this. And for movies that actually remember when it was fun reading comics than merely collecting them, bagging them and locking them away for their value to go up (fat chance). This one makes you smile, rather than want to beat somebody up.

Shazam! actually soars.