The presence of Nick Park as director, rather than just the use of his style, ensures premium quality stop-motion animation. But that's the best thing you can say about this. The inspired daftness of Wallace & Gromit is nowhere to be seen: the gags are weak, the story is lame and, in that it climaxes with a game of football, a poor choice for the medium. How can you expect to convey a real sense of life and movement to the players? It's like filming a game of Subbuteo. It suffers particularly by comparison with the brilliant football match in Disney's Bedknobs & Broomsticks (in spite of that being produced by Americans who were obviously unfamiliar with the game).
You have to wonder, actually, when was the last time Park actually saw a football match; his ideas of it seem to be based on what would have been his formative years, the 60s and 70s.
For many years now Aardman have been struggling to come up with ideas strong enough to do justice to their animation. I'm afraid this only confirms the trend.
You have to wonder, actually, when was the last time Park actually saw a football match; his ideas of it seem to be based on what would have been his formative years, the 60s and 70s.
For many years now Aardman have been struggling to come up with ideas strong enough to do justice to their animation. I'm afraid this only confirms the trend.