Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023) 
Director: Sam Fell
Screenwriters: Karey Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell, Rachel Tunnard
Starring: Bella Ramsey, Thandiwe Newton, Zachary Levi, Imelda Staunton, Lynn Ferguson, David Bradley, Jane Horrocks, Romesh Ranganathan, Daniel Mays, Josie Sedgwick-Jones, Peter Serafinowicz, Nick Mohammed, Miranda Richardson

On the surface, the original Chicken Run (2000) was a fantastic children’s movie and a feat for animated films. It was 90 minutes of pure feathery fun and righteous chicken anger. The movie had impeccable comedic timing akin to Aardman Studio’s other works like Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. These movies have a beating heart and soul that has stuck with children and adults alike because of their ability to wrap us in the warm hug of their respective worlds. And still, beneath it all lies something even deeper, something profound. For many millennials and cuspers, Chicken Run was an introduction to Marxism and revolution itself. 

As rebel chicken, Ginger (played by Julia Sawalha in 2000) rallies the hens against tyrannical farmers, she dares them to imagine a world governed only by their own will. “Don’t you get it?” she clucks, “There’s no morning headcount, no dogs, no farmers, no coops and keys, and no fences.” It’s a powerful cry for revolution – a call to rise up against injustice, no matter the cost. Though the film is filled with slapstick humor, its demand to rage against oppression transcends the children’s animation genre, cementing it as a powerful allegory for World War II and universal demands for human (and chicken) rights. 

Needless to say, the sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, was highly anticipated by audiences and critics. Nearly 20 years after the original, the follow-up had big shoes to fill. What lessons would the new Chicken Run teach us? Perhaps something about the rise of fascism? Environmentalism? Maybe it would lead us to the answers we’ve all been searching for in these tumultuous times? Unfortunately, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget takes more of a formulaic follow-up approach than broaching anything remotely groundbreaking. 

In this rendition, Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi, replacing Mel Gibson) return, now living in an idyllic, poultry utopia. Though they are happy in their new homes, they are closed off from the rest of society. Their daughter, Molly (Bella Ramsey), takes after her mother and dreams of life bigger than their confined existence on the island. Soon, Molly escapes to the mainland and finds herself trapped in a chicken factory called Fun-Land Farm. Now, it’s up to the other chickens to break into the factory, a subversion from the previous film’s breakout. 

Dawn of the Nugget isn’t completely without charm. The animation is beautiful and bright, stepping away from the original film’s muted color palate to favor a more vibrant chicken paradise. Fun-Land Farm is garishly bright, showcasing the false promises of the deceptively named poultry plant. Even the heist-like stunts feel higher stakes and more elaborate. There are more hijinks, slipping, falling, and scrambling than ever. 

Though the scale feels dialled up to 11, the film is missing its original creativity and simplistic but resilient spirit that made it an instant classic. Dawn of the Nugget is much more concerned with simple tropes like breaking away from tradition and marching to the beat of your own drum than anything revolutionary. Its simple premise and resistance to taking risks – both thematically and comedically – make the 101-minute run feel like a bit of a slog. 

It’s a lot to ask of a film – to be both a succinct manifesto about the state of modern politics and revolutionary movements and a hokey comedy about chickens falling on their heads – but it has been done before. Perhaps the reason Dawn of the Nugget felt so flat is the enormous shadow its predecessor casts upon the film. And, in the 20 years in between the first and second editions of Ginger and Rocky’s story, we’ve had plenty of time to fill in the gaps on our own. Dawn of the Nugget is a fine movie to turn on for the kids on a Saturday afternoon, but turn on Chicken Run (2000) and you might just have a revolution on your hands. 

Score: 12/24

Recommended for you: Aardman Animation Movies 2000-2020 Ranked

The Rhythm Section (2020)
Director: Reed Morano
Screenwriter: Mark Burnell
Starring: Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown, Daniel Mays, Raza Jaffrey

From the upper-east side gossip merchant she played in ‘Gossip Girl’ (2007-2012) to a new hard-hitting and ruthless personality in The Rhythm Section (2020), Blake Lively is showing the world her diversity as an actress, taking on a complex, multi-persona character within a fairly basic narrative that hardly deserves the many layers to her performance.

Reed Morano’s action-thriller is about a twenty-something girl, Stephanie (Lively), who is dealing with her parents’ deaths and is on a downward spiral due to her consequential involvement with prostitution, drugs and grief. When Stephanie is informed of a conspiracy about how the plane crash that killed her parents was actually a targeted terrorist attack, she decides to make it her mission to avenge them by any means necessary. She therefore goes about developing her strength and turns to a new ally to train her in combat (Jude Law as “B”), becoming an assassin with righteous anger at the heart of her narrative.

Lively portrays a badass revenger very well, and we see her transform from a loving, family-orientated girl to a strong, complex woman. In the natural linear narrative, which is masked by the non-linear (though never confusing) structure of the film, Stephanie begins as a bright-eyed, blonde-haired image of serenity and contentment, yet post-tragedy, she quickly becomes derailed. Her change of appearance, mainly her shorter, more ragged hair and scruffy clothes, visually convey her life collapsing after her parents were killed. Once she finds focus – revenge – she changes once again, this time to the badass persona of “Petra”, dyeing her hair and using wigs to become someone else.

Jude Law’s character “B”, in contrast, is enigmatic from the get-go, established as an undercover source and living in the wilderness in Scotland. Once Stephanie arrives in Inverness, Law appears very dominant and aggressive, and definitely not the “Mr Napkin Head” we all know and love (by “all”, I mean “the die-hard The Holiday fans”). Even once the narrative untangles his character a bit more, he is still leaves you unsure as to whether he is to be trusted. It is for this reasont that Law may not have been the right choice for this role, his performance filcking too much between being enigmatic/aggressive, and way too “Mr Nice Guy”. It seemed like he couldn’t find a hook for his performance to latch onto.

You may head into The Rhythm Section assuming that it is, at least in some way, about music – “Rhythm Section” actually describes the underlying rhythm of a piece of music, for example that of the bass or the drums. However, the title in this case refers to the controlling of breath and heart rate while shooting, as referenced in one particularly on-the-nose scene in which Law’s B is teaching Lively’s Stephanie how to shoot his pistol. While this may seem irrelevant to anything other than the title of the piece in the moment, it actually places a great deal of emphasis on the character’s breathing, as such creating a point of reference for the viewer as regards her progress into the world of murder and mystery that she so adamantly wants to be a part of. In multiple scenes, the recurring sound effects of her breathing and heartbeat encourage the tense, anxious atmosphere already present due to the vengeful action, forging a series of narrative beats unique and advantageous to this film overall.

A great element of this globe-trotting thriller is its vast use of locations, especially those outside of its base of London. The Rhythm Section successfully utilises a wide range of locations to symbolise the global impact of the narrative, predominantly the theme of terrorism. The location of Inverness in Scotland is one of beauty and tranquility, but also isolation, while Tangiers, Morocco creates a distinct visual feel for the movie and provides a rich mise-en-scene of decaying decadence, the same kind of decay Stephanie has felt within herself since the loss of her parents.

Generally, the narrative is somewhat predictable, which is usually the case with action films and particularly those with vengeful narratives. There were a few unexpected deaths and plot developments, but the general consensus was that Stephanie would go on a rampage and get her revenge in the end.

Reflecting on this piece of cinema, it was definitely a mediocre watch, though there were a lot of good moments and solid, understandable artistic choices. Possibly, with some tweaks, it could have been more gripping, but Blake Lively did manage to pull it back and keep the audience somewhat engaged with a performance far stronger than the movie around her.

14/24

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Oscar winner Colin Firth leads the list of new additions, with fellow Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, BAFTA TV nominee Mark Strong and Golden Globe TV Best Actor nominee Richard Madden set to join him.

Left to right: Colin Firth (Mary Poppins Returns), Benedict Cumberbatch (Avengers: Infinity War), Mark Strong (Kingsman II: The Secret Service), Richard Madden (‘The Bodyguard’).

Beginning principle photography as early as next week in its central locations of England and Scotland, 1917 will tell the tale of a number of soldiers across a single day during World War I, and will shoot from a script written by Mendes and his writing partner Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

Though their roles are yet to be revealed, Firth, Cumberbatch, Strong and Madden will be a part of the movie set to be headlined by the previously announced George MacKay (Pride; Captain Fantastic) and Dean-Charles Chapman (‘Game of Thrones’). Andrew Scott (‘Sherlock’), Daniel Mays (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; Dad’s Army), Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Nabhaan Rizwan and Claire Duburcq have also been cast.

The movie is being brought to the big screen by Dreamworks and Universal Pictures, with Mendes’ label Neal Street Productions producing the project with Jayne-Ann Tenggren, Callum McDougall and Michael Lerman.

The picture is due for release on 25th December 2019.

Source: THR

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