How we missed them! Seventeen years after the last medium-length film to date, and even almost two decades after their first steps in the cinema, thanks to the “Mystery of the Were-Rabbit”, Wallace and Gromit are back this Friday, January 3, this time -here on Netflix.
And the information can directly rank among the first good news of 2025, as these two plasticine characters, mascot of the British studios Aardman (animation geniuses to whom we also owe the “Chicken Run” saga) , win the bet as soon as they appear on a screen, large or small.
Young or old, this is also the ― broad ― target that this new opus can aim for, making different degrees of understanding available to the public depending on the age. “The Palm of Vengeance” will bring back fond memories for historical fans of the franchise. Because here we find our two heroes ― Wallace, the blundering inventor with the eternal green knit and his dog, Gromit, who (literally) only lacks speech ― in the continuation of one of their most famous adventures, the medium-length film “Le Mauvais pants”, released in 1993.
Thirty years later, directors Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham have imagined a delightful twist to this story of a criminal penguin who, disguised as a chicken wearing a simple latex glove, tried to get his hands on a giant diamond by stealing a of the inventions of this Géo Trouvetou de Wallace, electronic pants.
Good words, poetry, fantasy
No pants, this time, but a garden gnome transformed by Wallace into a tireless little handyman thanks to artificial intelligence, to the great dismay of Gromit who is both jealous and suspicious of this Norbot who is far too perfect to be honest. An invention that is eyed, in the distance, by the famous Feather McGraw, the one-armed bandit placed, since his last crime, behind bars… at the zoo.
Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham have not lost their touch. They retain at the same time all the truculent “historical” ingredients of Wallace and Gromit: the funny friendly relationship between these two, Gromit’s cute facial expressions, the British charm which smells of tea and crackers, the good words and gags galore, the DIY side of timeless poetry. But modernize the whole in a skillful and exhilarating manner by injecting current themes into their fantasy.
The way in which they treat animal welfare and, above all, the abuses of AI, is in this regard a model of its kind. Relevant, their vision is no less playful at every moment thanks to comic springs functioning like Swiss clockwork, until a finale where, as in “Bad Pants”, the protagonists will chase each other with panache and humour. . So funny!
British animated film (2024), directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. (1h19)
