‘Chicken Run: Dawn Of The Nugget’ review: ‘Mission: Impossible’ meets ‘Squid Game’ in this egg-cellent sequel

Back in November, news that Aardman might be running out of Plasticine made national headlines. They weren’t, of course (don’t worry), but it’s easy to see why the rumour started such a panic. Turning clay into something more than magic, the little Bristol animation house has been painstakingly hand-crafting some of the most beloved British family films of the last 30 years. And here’s another one: stop-motion sequel to their 2000 feature debut, Chicken Run, arriving on Netflix just in time to put everyone off their turkey sandwiches.

23 years is a long time, but it only takes a couple of minutes to catch up. Plucky British hen Ginger (originally voiced by Julia Sawalha, now by Thandiwe Newton) and cocky American cockerel Rocky (Zachary Levi stepping in for Mel Gibson, swapping one problematic Hollywood actor for another…) now have a chick together. This is Molly (Bella Ramsey), who has all the moxy of her parents but none of their fear of humans, since she’s been raised on an island commune for escaped battery chickens. When the lure of the big wide world gets too much for her, Molly wanders off and walks straight into a nugget factory. Cue elaborate rescue mission…

If the first film was a riff on The Great Escape, this one is Mission: Impossible (with a weird bit of Squid Game thrown in). Where the original spent an hour building up to a makeshift wooden glider, this one has laser-shooting ducks and remote-control hypno-collars inside 10 minutes. The gear-shift scrapes off some of the old-school charm, but only slightly – as every visible fingerprint still feels like the stamp of a studio that actually cares.

Aardman might have come a long way in 23 years, but they’re also exactly where they’ve always been – still making warm, witty, British comedies that are rooted in heart and spirit and platefuls of biscuits. For a film that often gets close to becoming a Vegan Society advert (“what chicken doesn’t want their own bucket?!” says one chick, as she runs straight into a slaughterhouse lorry), you have to admire the commitment to cosiness – Babs still knitting, Fowler still reminiscing about World War Two, Daniel Mayes and Romesh Ranganathan as a pair of rats making PG-rated bum jokes.

Dawn Of The Nugget might have a bit too much Netflix polish in places, and the spark of the original film doesn’t ever burn as brightly here, but there’s still a lot to love about a family film pitched for the post-Christmas dinner funk that’s all about the horrors of the poultry industry. Aardman own this time of year – from endless Wallace & Gromit reruns to 2021’s Robin Robin – and while this is unlikely to be quite as beloved in another generation, it still feels like essential family viewing.

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