Count on ‘Sheep’
Aaah. Aardman arrives just in time for Halloween as well as a soothing tonic to encroaching AI.
Shaun the Sheep: the Beast of Mossy Bottom
Directors: Steve Cox, Matthew Walker • Writers: Mark Burton, Giles Pilbrow
Starring: Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Nina Sosanya
UK • 1hr 21mins
Opens Hong Kong October 17 • I
Grade: B+
Spooky Season continues with arguably the least spooky movie landing this October. But come on, there are pumpkins, a mad scientist, costumes and a Halloween hoe-down. What more could you need? British animation studio Aardman Animations returns to screens with its latest stop motion adventure featuring sentient, often snarky sheep, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. That title alone should be some indication of the silliness you’re in for here, but in typical Shaun the Sheep fashion, the film’s a total charmer, with some truly inspired sight gags – and it marks the second time this year a kid-targeted family entertainment reached back into film history for some of its story, following the best (gulp) Minions (gack) movie so far, Monster & Minions. No one’s admitting this is a concerted effort to make sure the youngsters understand what a movie is supposed to look like but hey. I’ll take it.
Like Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) and 2019’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Mossy Bottom (I love saying that) is a standalone film and not a true sequel, so anyone who’s never seen Shaun and the gang (shame!) will have no trouble falling in line with its story and its overall goofily amusing vibe. The obviously handmade quality of the animation and a visual reminder of Aardman’s aesthetic, in this age of AI slop, is an added bonus. It’s almost as if someone didn’t want us to be idiots and took pride in their artistic craft (let’s face it, these are not the people who need AI). But I digress. Mossy Bottom (heh heh) is a typically delightful offering from Aardman, aware of its own guilty pleasures and refreshingly low-key. You’re not exhausted after a Shaun the Sheep movie.
Any movie that references Frankenstein…
Returning writer Mark Burton and newcomer Giles Pilbrow have concocted a swift, breezy monster movie that shouts out (in the right way) everything from Frankenstein to An American Werewolf in London and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (!) but never lets homage get in the way of the story happening in the movie. In the lead up to Halloween, our intrepid farm sheep Shaun (voiced by Justin Fletcher for as much as you can call the noises voicing) and his crew are fawning over their hidden, gloriously verdant pumpkin patch. They can’t wait for Halloween and to carve jack-o-lanterns. But when The Vet (Nina Sosanya) arrives from Mossingham to administer some shots to the farm animals, The Farmer (John Sparkes, who can make the most innocuous “Oh? Hah hah!” utterly hilarious) gets all flustered – he’s trying to work up the courage to ask her to the annual Halloween shindig – and destroys the pumpkin patch. Little Timmy the Sheep (Fletcher again) is crushed, so Shaun goes full mad scientist and creates a potion that supercharges growth. Long story short… well short story shorter, The Farmer winds up with the leftover potion, douses his bald head with it (all the better to impress The Vet) and quickly turns into a big, furry Sasquatch type. The Farmer’s loyal dog Bitzer (also Sparkes) figures out what’s going on and he, Shaun, Timmy and The Vet are on a mission to fix this mess.
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is based on the idea of a holiday-themed adventure that spirals out of control fast, think Home Alone or literally any Hong Kong Lunar New Year comedy, and indeed it’s ridiculous. But it’s supposed to be, and Burton and Pilbrow are well aware of the ridiculousness. But there’s also a sincere core to the story that, like the homages, never gets in the way. The Farmer is like so many of us: he’s got some anxiety over his middle-aged looks and frets over asking The Vet on a date. What if he’s not good enough? For all its comedy you’ll find yourself really hoping The Farmer and The Vet get together. For all the lack of dialogue they feel like real people worth rooting for. Ditto for Shaun, Timmy and the rest of the sheep squad. Co-directors Steve Cox and Matthew Walker are hyper-efficient with their images in a hyper-efficient script that effortlessly creates a vivid village backdrop, peppered with a supporting cast of amusing townsfolk. Mossy Bottom has one horror’s all time great angry mobs to go with some of the year’s warmest, most easy on the eyes animation.