Animator Nick Park's claymation duo Wallace and Gromit has an international following of devoted fans. For years, Park has delivered the goods with clever, well-structured short films Wallace and Gromit in A Close Shave, A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit and the brilliant Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers. Following the success of these shorts, Park was given license to expand his inventive work to the full-length film Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Were-Rabbit was loaded with puns and fun but seemed a little stretched in its full-length format. With Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, Park returns to his more comfortable short form. Made for television, this film clocks in at thirty minutes. Too bad Park is working with about ten minutes of material.

The pair get wrapped up in a murder mystery while they run a bakery. The production has a rushed feeling, as if it wasn't done cooking. A few more runs at the script perhaps? The visuals don't compare to the previous films and the jokes lack Park's joyful punch.

I hate to write these words, but it appears Park phoned this one in.



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Labels: animated, Nick Park