Release Date: 29 December 2005

Synopsis :

It's 'vege-mania' in Wallace and Gromit's neighborhood, and our two enterprising chums are cashing in with their humane pest-control outfit, "Anti-Pesto." With only days to go before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, business is booming, but Wallace & Gromit are finding out
that running a "humane" pest control outfit has its drawbacks as their West Wallaby Street home fills to the brim with captive rabbits.

Suddenly, a huge, mysterious, veg-ravaging "beast" begins attacking the town's sacred vegetable plots at night, and the competition hostess, Lady Tottington, commissions Anti-Pesto to catch it and save the day. Lying in wait, however, is Lady Tottington's snobby suitor, Victor Quartermaine, who'd rather shoot the beast and secure the position of local hero -- not
to mention Lady Tottingon's hand in marriage. With the fate of the competition in the balance, Lady Tottington is eventually forced to allow Victor to hunt down the vegetable chomping marauder. Little does she know that Victor's real intent could have dire consequences for her... and our two heroes.

Movie Review:

With advancing technology creeping into our daily life and no doubt, the fast-moving movie industry as well. It’s great to know that you can still rely on Nick Park and his nimble hands to create some good old-fashioned claymation. Far from being prolific, (apparently due to the painstakingly process of stop-motioning the characters) Nick Park and his team has been churning out “Wallace & Gromit” shorts and the hit movie “Chicken Run” for the hungry audience from time to time.

Once again, prepare to be mesmerized by the likeable duo “Wallace & Gromit” this festive season. Our heroes are the owners of humane pest-control company, "Anti-Pesto". Business is brisk as security is in high demand by house owners for the upcoming annual Giant Vegetable competition. But their happiness is short-lived when Wallace has to face a competitor, Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes) in his vying for Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) and also an experiment that goes way awry.

Helena Bonham Carter is in more relaxed form here after her stint in “Corpse Bride”. Perhaps she finds it more comfortable working away from the prying eyes of her Director-husband Tim Burton. The highly acclaimed Ralph Fiennes sounds he’s having as much fun as the audience in portraying the gun-totting villain, Quartermaine. As usual, Wallace is voiced by the unhurried, elderly Peter Sallis. The voice cast on the whole did a remarkable job, minus the usual loud sound effects heard in most Hollywood productions, reliance on the voice cast thus becomes of utmost importance. The witty Gromit despite not having a voice of his own instead thrilled the audience with his sharp antics and exploits. Look out for the exhilarating car-chase sequence that took Gromit on the road to tunneling underground.

Kudos must be given to Nick Park and his team for paying extreme details to the characters and set designs. It’s practically insane to just think of using your plain hands to achieve every single intricate motion but somehow, Nick did it time after time. Even an untrained eye can spot the “handmade” actions. You can observe that minimal visual effects are added to the final product. This is the beauty of it.

Movies can’t really work without a good script, can they? “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbits” succeed in it’s simplicity, with a touch of fantasy and the same time without over-indulging in it’s theme. Don’t forget the generous subtle doses of humour as well. Comparing it with the rest of the hand-drawn/stop-motion animations of 2005, “Howl’s moving castle” being too abstract at times and the recently concluded “Corpse Bride” a little over-the-top in effects, “Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbits” however is a gem in all factors combined.

Movie Rating:

(Don't underestimate the power of CLAY. "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is an enchanting display of good old fun, Nick Park is once again at the top of his game!)

Review by Linus Tee