Directed by Sam Fell, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is the long-awaited continuation of the Chicken Run story. After successfully escaping from Tweedys’ farm in a daring and risky manner, Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) has discovered her ideal place – an idyllic island bird sanctuary where the entire flock can live in harmony, without any risks from humans. With the arrival of Ginger and Rocky’s (Zachary Levi) new daughter, Molly (Bella Ramsey), it appears that Ginger’s fairytale ending has finally come true. However, the entire chicken population is now confronted with a menacing new danger on the mainland led by a familiar foe. Determined to safeguard their freedom, even if it means endangering it, Ginger and her team are determined to break in.
It has been 23 years since the first film came out and in that time it has remained one of my favorite animated films of all time with its wonderful characters, fun story, brilliant humor, fantastic music, and phenomenal stop-motion animation that has aged beautifully even after all this time. So when a sequel was announced my excitement for it was absolutely through the roof, especially since it had most of the original creative team of the first film at the helm. So was this sequel worth the 23-year-long wait? Well as a huge fan of the original, I can say that Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is a very good sequel that I feel was worth the wait. This film serves as a fun follow-up with a story that is completely in the spirit of the original, while still being a faithful continuation with the same amount of heart, humor, and stellar technical work that made the first film so good. I could not stop smiling from the start of this film to the end as it felt so great to return to this amazing world and revisit these characters after so long.
Now there have been some notable changes to the film’s cast, with some of the returning cast coming back while others have been recast, as well as the inclusion of new characters with new voices. The returning cast members are all fantastic as expected, feeling like they never left these roles even after so many years, and the new cast members also deliver great performances as well, even if some of their voices take some getting used to.
There was a large amount of concern regarding the recast of the main leads Ginger and Rocky but I honestly liked the new voices they chose for them. Julia Sawalha’s original voice for Ginger is definitely missed but her replacement Thandiwe Newton does a great job, giving us our favorite chicken leader back in action with an overall solid performance. She nails so many heartfelt moments and gives us a whole new side of Ginger where she is happy with the new life she has made but has grown scared and very protective of everything she has built, due to her past at the Tweedys’ farm. While there are definitely some new elements added for her character in this sequel, especially with being a mother, she is still the strong and clever leader she has always been and serves as the beating heart of the film.
In the first film, Rocky was voiced by Mel Gibson but, most likely due to the numerous controversies surrounding the actor, he was understandably replaced with Zachary Levi. And to be completely honest Zachary Levi does a damn excellent job as Rocky, nailing down not only how the character sounded in the first film but also nailing down a lot of what made him a fun character, even down to the specific mannerisms and delivery of certain lines. Anyone who was worried that Levi was going to sound a lot more like himself rather than Gibson’s performance in the first film need not worry, because he really put forth the effort here, similar to his previous voicing work in the video game Grounded where he sounded unrecognizable. It is clear that he has a major talent when it comes to voice work and I am majorly happy with his work here as Rocky.
As for how the character is himself, it was nice to see that he has evolved greatly from his selfish beginnings into a more caring individual, yet still retains the hilarious personality he had in the first film.
Their voices were very easy to get used to from the start but the same can’t be said for some of the other recasts, which include David Bradley as Fowler, Ramesh Ranganathan as Nick, and Daniel Mays as Fetcher. All three of them did great performance-wise and their characters are consistently good, but their voices never sounded remotely close to how they sounded in the original film and that could be an issue for some. Benjamin Whitrow had such an iconic voice for Fowler with his hilariously British demeanor that I feel would have been impossible to replicate even with David Bradley as talented as he is. For those wondering, the reason why Benjamin Whitrow could not come back for the role was because he unfortunately passed away from a brain hemorrhage in 2017. May he rest in peace.
The returning chickens including the cynical Bunty, the Scottish Mac, and the clueless Babs are played absolutely perfectly by their respective returning cast members, being the absolute gems of supporting characters just like they were in the original film film delivering tons of laughs. We also get the return of the dreaded Mrs. Tweedy, reprised by Miranda Richardson, who is back with a vengeance and ready to cook the chickens into nuggets instead of pies. Miranda is absolutely fantastic as this more unhinged version of Mrs. Tweedy. Even with a newly modernized farm and a new twit of a husband to work with she is still a brilliant and fun villain for our heroes to thwart.
The new characters are also really good too, with the stand out amongst them being Bella Ramsey as Molly, the daughter of Ginger and Rocky. Bella’s performance beautifully captures Molly’s adventurous spirit, making for a compelling character full of heart and naïveté. She shares elements of both her parents in an energetic combination that Bella Ramsey was the perfect fit for, and truly one of the best additions to this film.
The story was an absolute joy, filled with fun adventure, witty British humor, and plenty of subtle jokes guaranteed to make many laugh out loud. It is simple like the first film in terms of plot and aimed towards all audiences both old and new in the best possible way. What I really loved about this film is how it didn’t dwell on any usual cliches typically seen in certain sequels. This film retains the spirit of the first film but it includes more new and creative ideas as well as new jokes that make it feel like an actual continuation and not a rehash of the original with a new coat of paint. While there are occasional throwback jokes and references from the first film, they never overdo it, which is a major relief considering that is a common pit most sequels these days have fallen into.
Aardman’s stop-motion animation has remained consistently amazing through the years, gradually evolving along with the technology, and that can clearly be seen here even after 23 years. The animation moves as smooth as butter and looks gorgeous in every frame, with vibrant colors and creative clay creations that are on a much grander scale compared to the first film. It shows just how far Aardman has come since its early beginnings, reminding audiences how incredible and limitless the creativity stop motion animation can be, as well as how it can be just as glorious as 2D and 3D animation, especially in the cinematography department.
The only thing that bugs me is that this film should have been given a theatrical release because stop-motion animation deserves theatrical recognition again.
As for the music, only one of the composers, Harry Gregson-Williams, who did the music for the first film, returns for the score but he ultimately delivers a strong score for this one feature, a mix of new tracks and brilliant reprisals of the original themes that felt like absolute heaven to listen to again. There were also some original songs featured here that were good but I will admit nothing beats the song Flip Flop and Fly from the first film.
Those who have been eagerly wanting to see a sequel to Chicken Run for so long will defintely be getting what they want with this film as it was truly worth the wait and has plenty to offer to both old and new fans. Be sure to catch it on Netflix whenever possible. I am going to give Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget an A = 95.
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