TIFF Report: Wallace and Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit Review

I was put in a bit of an awkward position coming out of this morning's press screening of the new Wallace and Gromit film when someone from the film company stopped me and asked if I could name the one thing I liked best about the film. I couldn't. Not because there isn't anything there to like but for preceisely the opposite reason, the film is absolutely fantastic from beginning to end and isolating any one thing that makes it so is well nigh impossible. Wallace and Gromit, you see, doesn't work because of any one particular moment, or gag, or approach but because of the way all of the elements fit together so incredibly well, so flawlessly, to create an all-encompassing world.

I came into this film as a long standing fan. I've been with the duo from the very beginning. I once drove several hours to see A Close Shave projected on the big screen when it was touring with Spike and Mike's festival of animation. I own very nearly everything Aardman Animation has ever released on DVD. And so I was a bit nervous going in. It's been a long time, after all ... would they have lost the magic? Would Dreamworks try to Americanize this most British of duos? Would they be able to sustain things over the length of a full feature? Would having Nick Park move from a hands on role to a purely supervisory one - this is the first Wallace and Gromit title he has done no animation on himself - have an effect? My fears were in vain. From the opening frame to the final credits this film is absolutely flawless; smart, funny, charming and filled with an insane glee at the chance to work in elements from a good number of old Hammer horror titles as well as a particularly famous giant animal film.

We join the eccentric inventor and his canine companion late at night. A shadowy figure moves trhough their neighborhood and into someone's garden. The vigilant garden gnome's eyes flash red, the flashing eyes matched by a set embedded in a portrait in Wallace's living room. The duo swing into elaborate action, triggering a ridiculous series of hidden compartments and Rube Goldberg machinery as they slide down chutes, are dressed by machines and drink a nice cup of tea before racing away in their van to the scene. After a scuffle, the perpetrator is rounded up and brought to justice. A cute little bunny out for a midnight snack has been foiled by the forces of Anti-Pesto Humane Pest Control, aka Wallace and Gromit.

It's an important time of year for the pair. A local Lady will soon be hosting her annual Large Vegetable competition and it seems the entire village is hard at work on their carrots, melons and pumpkins. It is up to our titular duo to protect the produce, but things take a difficult turn when a ravenous, giant monster begins raiding gardens at night ... could it be a were-rabbit?

With every successive outing the world of Wallace and Gromit has grown larger and this is no exception. The film employed thirty animators working on thirty sets simultaneously and the cast of characters has expanded enormously. An entire village is populated this time out, along with numerous rabbits. Along with the village policeman - voiced by Peter Kay - there is a crotchety old woman (Mark Gatiss of the League of Gentlemen), the village priest, and most importantly the Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) and her would be suitor Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes) who is constantly accompanied by his dog Phillip. It can get dicey adding this many new characters into an established world but Nick Park et al are more than up to the challenge, weaving everything together so tightly that it feels as though they've always been there. The new voice talent is very strong - particularly Fiennes who plays way against type - and each of the new principal characters is given their chance to shine.

The script keeps things moving briskly from start to finish and displays all the wit we've come to expect. It is smart, snappy, pun laden, and intensely British. The set pieces are fantastic, subtle - and not so subtle - gags are scattered about through the backgrounds, and the whole thing is simply very, very funny.

Wallace and Gromit already have an intensely loyal following and if this film fails to break them through into the mainstream in a big, big way ... well, it'll just say something very sad and demeaning about the general state of humanity. This is simply genius stuff, family entertainment smart, funny and layered enough that it will truly keep everyone happy.