A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Movie Review
3.0/5
Shaun The Sheep Movie, The 2015 big-screen adaptation of the popular children’s cartoon Shaun The Sheep -- which chronicles the misadventures of a smart sheep Shaun -- had the gang getting lost in a big city. Here, the franchise segues into Spielberg territory, what with Shaun and his friends encountering a female alien Lu-La and Shaun and the sheepdog Blitzer combining their resourcefulness to send her back home. The film pays homage to many popular sci-fi films and novels. There is a WALL-E like mini robot here called Mugg-1N5 which helps agent Red -- who is dressed like an agent from the Men In Black franchise into hunting extraterrestrials. A mechanic’s sign in the village reads as HG Wheels, a homage to author HG Wells’ iconic novel The War Of The World. There is a spoofy shot of a blurred pizza caught in a candid photo being mistaken for a UFO which speaks of our obsession with UFO conspiracy theories.In the town of Mossingham, Farmer John and his dog Bingo chance upon a UFO and witness an alien landing. The news soon spreads and visitors descend in droves on the suburb wanting to catch a glimpse. Back at the Mossy Bottom Farm, after Blitzer bans the sheep from participating in dangerous pastimes, and even a barbeque dinner, they order a pizza. They open the pizza boxes to find them empty and later Shaun comes to know that an alien child Lu-La has been hiding in their barn and has been responsible for eating all the pizza. Shaun takes her under his wing and the mischievous Lu-La lands him in various kinds of trouble, including the destruction of a combined harvester. The man who owns their farm (known simply as Farmer), meanwhile hits upon the idea of opening an alien-themed park at his farm to rake in some easy money. Little does he know that it’ll actually attract UFOs...
The film combines claymation technology with computer imagery to come up with some cuddly-faced characters that draw you in their world. It’s their expressions which win you over, as the film is devoid of human speech. The goofy slapstick comedy is aimed mostly at primary schoolers but will surely make adults smile as well. The sight-jokes and the cultural references will surely be lost on children.
