- Directed by Richard Phelan and Will Becher
- September 22, 2019 (Odeon Leicester Square) / October 18, 2019 (UK)
- Based on the British animated series Shaun the Sheep by Nick Park and Bob Baker
Voice Cast
- Shaun, Timmy-Justin Fletcher
- The Farmer, Bitzer-John Sparkes
- Lu-La, Me-Ma-Amalia Vitale
- Timmy’s Mum, Agent Red-Kate Harbour
- M-U-G-G-1N5 (Muggins)-David Holt
- Ub-Do, Shirley-Richard Webber
- The Twins-Simon Greenall
- Hazel-Emma Tate
- Nuts-Andy Nyman
- Pizza Boy-Joe Sugg
Shaun and the flock encounter an alien that crashes near Mossy Bottom Farm and must find a way to get them home while protecting her from the Ministry for Alien Detection.
I was eager to take in Farmageddon after I watched Shaun the Sheep The Movie film. Much like the first there is virtually no dialogue. Characters make vague sounds of expression allowing near universal access to any viewer no matter their location or culture. We understand the cast and story through actions over words.
Because of no speech, sight gags abound here. Most allude to other science-fiction films. ED-209 from RoboCop, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and others get referenced as do general alien conspiracy tropes. It is a loving homage to the genre as it pokes loving fun at what fans appreciate.
The plot is basically a riff on the aforementioned E.T. Shaun and company must help a stranded toddler alien with powers get back home while fending off the expected nefarious secret government agents. Mixed in are the expected side quests of the various characters with The Farmer using alien sightings as an onramp to a moneymaking scheme with hilarious results.
This is a family friendly film with family friendly humor but nothing that ever talks down to the audience. If you don’t get the reference or don’t get the joke that’s fine. It never gets condescending or simplistic. Farmageddon has identifiable themes of friendship and doing the right thing with the wrong thing leading to failure or just a humorous end. In that there’s a certain sweetness about the whole thing since no one’s really scheming against each other. Bitzer the dog even comes around to things. He and Shaun are at odds but not enemies. One has a job to do while the other is chafing under the rules.
The film itself proceeds in a very classic cartoon fashion. It engages in farce and slapstick and is not afraid to be silly. The Farmer’s combine harvester is destroyed causing him to create an attraction based on aliens and crop circles to make enough money for a new one. Don’t think about all the resources/money he uses to make it happen. That’s part of the joke!
Richard Phelan and Will Becher are gifted at economy of storytelling. They needed to be to do a movie with little dialogue other than a few alien words. The opening gags are gags but also play into the story-specifically the climax. Nothing is wasted in a way that other directors and writers could learn from. You see the path from the introduction to its actual use once it occurs but THAT is not predictable.
What also sells this is character growth. Shaun, Bitzer, and even The Farmer at their core are not going to greatly change but they do learn a little something or come through things better by the end. I do not think there are any truly evil characters in this. The head of the Ministry for Alien Detection is the closest this gets and she has been trying to prove she was not lying for years causing her to do the wrong thing.
Aardman’s use of their near trademark stop-motion and clay animation techniques helps this to stand apart from other family films. It gives a strange and sillier bend than 2-D animation or even CGI could offer. It pushes it very close to live action thus elevating the absurdity of the story.
Since aliens are involved, the very British crop circles play a part in this. I half expected something a little sillier in what we saw but they played it straight hewing close to the phenomena as it is seen. Whether or not you believe in the validity, this is one moment those making Farmageddon did not go for an easy laugh.
With a sweetness that never gets saccharine and humor that never gets edgy yet never gets condescending Farmageddon is hilarious silly fun. It’s enjoyable for the whole family and there’s no shame if you watch it on your own because it is just so good.
Warren Watched A Movie 