Shaun the Sheep Movie – Review

Despite the fact Aardman Studios have been more ambitious of late, producing feature length films such as Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas and most recently, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, it’s when thriving on simplicity that the studio truly comes into its element. Thankfully in their latest endeavour, Shaun the Sheep Movie, they’ve returned to the basics, with a charming and endearing turn that bears similarities to the likes of Wallace & Gromit, Morph and Creature Comforts.

Falling into a monotonous, daily routine, Shaun is fed up of partaking in farm activities every day, and so decides it’s time for a day off. Plotting alongside his flock, they manage to send the farmer to sleep, and break into his house to indulge in a day of gluttony (watching the telly and eating junk food). However when the caravan slowly rolls down the hill towards the Big City, it’s left to Shaun to get them all home safely, which is made rather more difficult with the callous Trumper on their tail – the nefarious antagonist who rules the local animal shelter.

It’s undoubtedly a brave move to release a film aimed at a young crowd with no dialogue at all. The attention span of children is by no means long, so to be able to craft a feature length film that can retain their attention without the need for words, is of great commendation to co-directors Mark Burton and Richard Starzak. You can see influences from the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in this production, as they take a slapstick approach, relying on the indelible visual experience to compensate for the lack of dialogue. And yet, even without any words, there are still jokes in here for adults; innuendos that children won’t latch on to, but will have parents chuckling away.

There’s just something so ineffably charming about this movie, and so inherently British too, in the most endearing way possible. Here is a film that, and huge apologies for the shameful use of this cliché, truly is fun for all the family.