Dawn of the Nugget’ Review — Aardman Is Capable of Better

The Big Picture

• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget disappoints with a dull and unoriginal plot lacking the charm and humor of the original.
• The characters in the sequel, such as Ginger and Rocky, are not as charming or well-developed as they were in the 2000 classic.
• Despite its many flaws, the animation style of Aardman Studios remains spectacular and visually appealing.

You wouldn’t be blamed for having expectations higher than the sky for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. We’ve been waiting for over 20 years to see if Ginger, Rocky, and the gang had another story in them in which they could make lightning strike twice. The original Chicken Run, released in 2000, is still the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time. Not even the beloved Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Wererabbit could top it. It was such a genius creation that it prompted the Academy to create a Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars. Why wouldn’t Dawn of the Nugget be just as, if not more, successful than its predecessor? Well, lightning did not strike twice I’m afraid; there isn’t so much as a gust of wind or rainfall in this flat sequel that puts gimmick over plot and characters.

What Is ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’ About?

Before jumping into the sad reality of Nugget’s disappointment, let’s set the scene. After the chicken gang of the first film successfully escapes Mrs. Tweedy’s farm, they make it to Nirvana on a small island, living out their days far away from the threat of being turned into pies. Rocky (Zachary Levi taking over from Mel Gibson) and Ginger (Thandiwe Newton taking over from Julia Sawalha) soon welcome a daughter, Molly (voiced by The Last of Us’s Bella Ramsey), who immediately announces herself as a glutton for adventure. The chickens hide their dark past to protect Molly from the knowledge that the world finds her delicious.

However, just like her mother couldn’t be caged in by Tweedy, Molly can’t be kept on the island, and she escapes. She quickly meets a fellow teenage chick with a thick Scouse accent, Frizzle (a delightful Josie Sedgwick-Davies), and the pair make their way into “Fun-Land Farms” where they think they will live in adventurous bliss. However, it turns out they are going to a maximum security compound straight out of a Bond film to be brainwashed and then… turned into nuggets! It’s up to Ginger, Rocky, Babs, Bunty, Mac, and Fowler to save Molly from an old acquaintance: Mrs. Tweedy herself (a returning Miranda Richardson)!

‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’ Has a Dull and Unoriginal Plot

The animated sequel’s whole plot revolves around the original protagonist’s child wanting to seek adventure, which pisses the parents off but shows how similar their child is to them — yes, we have seen this before. It’s the plot of the Little Mermaid sequel. It’s a basic premise, but the film can’t be judged solely for that as it’s not like the original had a Christopher Nolan-esque story. It’s about a bunch of chickens breaking out of a farm — and yet, it worked. It took this very everyday concept and made the stakes as high as a Mission: Impossible movie. And while they’re trying to achieve the very same again here, all of the originality, charm, and humor of the first film are reduced to form a glossy, impersonal, and more commercial successor.

The jokes are few and far between and don’t feel as in tune with Aardman’s signature British humor. Where are all the chicken-related puns? The jabs and remarks that parents might only get? Chicken Run’s genius came, much like every other Aardman film, from the fact that people of all ages can enjoy it for different reasons. When I watched the original last Christmas, my family of ages ranging from 25 to 65 were keeled over laughing, even though it was the 20th time we’d watched it. Dawn of the Nugget panders to a universal yet childish audience, with no sharp quips or genuinely funny jokes.

The ‘Chicken Run’ Characters Aren’t as Charming

This also extends to the characterization. Ginger was a feisty, determined girlboss in the first one, willing to literally go out on a limb for her flock. With Newton replacing Julia Sawalha, Ginger becomes a flat, muted version of her former self, giving over to the fact she’s a mother now and not retaining any of the glory of her past. I can’t stress enough how happy I am that Gibson is losing work to other actors, but Levi brings nothing to Rocky, and combined with the script’s dismissal of him, he’s just a bumbling idiot who takes up space. While he was never the cleverest rooster in the pen, he was a charming himbo who goes on a great character arc from selfish to selfless, and Dawn of the Nugget makes it all redundant.

With the change of voice and lack of care put into continuing their personalities, all we’re left with is the ghosts of Chicken Run past. Thank God for Richardson putting all she has into a yassified, updated Mrs. Tweedy. While only used sparingly, she’s still a villain for the ages, and it’s her sharp, calculated tongue that makes it so. While North American viewers will be slapping on the subtitles as soon as they hear Frizzle speak, the melodic Scouse accent is the perfect choice for a sweet and endearing sidekick. Molly, like many of the characters, isn’t given much of an arc but Ramsey makes a concerted effort to make Molly equal parts naive and fearless.

The pacing of the film also doesn’t help matters. The beginning feels so rushed in setting up the action that we’re given no time to invest in Molly or these new uncanny versions of Ginger and Rocky. 2000’s Chicken Run is so full of tension and excitement because we’re allowed to spend time with Ginger and the gang to the point that we genuinely care what happens to them. Character and action are treated equally whereas Dawn of the Nugget is so obviously gasping to get to the parts that they think audiences will enjoy most. The sequel could have used more of Bunty reading the fellow chickens to filth, Babs being the perfect, clueless angel that she is, and Ginger and Rocky growing as parents and realizing how their whole life has changed with Molly. Yes, the concept of Chicken Run was fun, but the film has remained so beloved because of all of these characters, from Ginger the Scottish Mac to the RAF veteran Fowler. Somewhere in those 20 years, the team has forgotten why audiences love the original.

While the Script Is Bad, Aardman’s Animation Is Still Spectacular

In saying all that, the most welcome thing to behold in Dawn of the Nugget is the style of Aardman. The scope is wider, the world is larger, and the studio has kept up with its set design. From the compound that Bruce Wayne would feel at home in, to the beauty school-dropout set up of the insidious brainwashing pen for the chickens, and the vibrant colors that permeate almost every scene, Dawn of the Nugget is a reminder that, regardless of the quality of the script, Aardman’s animation will always be in a league of its own.

The original Chicken Run is nothing short of an animated classic. More than that, it’s a shining example of why Aardman is unlike any other animation studio. The power of their stories is found in how they turn the everyday into something magical, horrifying, inspirational, and hilarious. A man and his dog who catch rabbits — who could have ever thought that that’s the perfect recipe for a Hammer horror movie? Or that a flock of chickens and two roosters could pull off a finale as tense as Argo’s? The style, tone, heart, and comedy of Aardman deserve better than Dawn of the Nugget’s formulaic story which doesn’t hold a candle to the original. If you’ve never seen Chicken Run and have no frame of reference, you and the kids will probably have a grand old hour and 40 minutes with this. For my fellow real ones out there who know that Aardman’s animation and these iconic characters deserve a story way better than this, it’s as unappetizing as dry chicken.

Rating: 5/10

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget will be available to stream on Netflix starting December 15.

Watch on Netflix