They put me in a box with me coat on
The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit are two films that I’ve neglected to mention on this here blog for reasons of mere stupidity. That’s stupidity on my part, mind, as both films were fantastic.
Apocalypse wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. I admire The League’s decision to again try something new - taking their ’story’ in yet another direction. And it works. It’s just that I adore the television series (and in fact, radio show) for the quirky Royston Vasey/Spent setting. And bringing the characters into our modern day London seems a bit too familiar for my liking.
That’s my only gripe with the film, and it *is* a personal one. That aside, the film was excellent. I’m not sure what those unfamiliar with The League’s previous work will make of it, but as a hardcore fan, I loved every minute of it. Apart from the video case prop, that is, as The League of Gentlemen was *never* released in that type of video case. (Yes, I’m nitpicking. But after such high efforts were made to keep everything else accurate for us dedicated fans, the video case error seemed a little lazy.)
Again, that sounds like a moan. I suppose it’s just far easier to criticise a film when you’ve got a passion for it long before even coming to watch the precious thing. But I did thoroughly enjoy it: ’twas very, very funny, the chosen characters were good choices, and the ending was a masterstroke.
On to Wallace & Gromit - something else that I adore. Firstly, it angers me when casual viewers watch something, enjoy it and then swear blind that they’ve been hardcore about it since day one. I don’t know why - maybe because I feel that it ‘challenges’ my interest in some way. And there are a lot of people I know going around being all arty-farty about The Curse of the Were-Rabbit because its inevitable popularity makes them sound, as some may say, “hip”.
I’m sure that I come across as a right git there. But it does anger me. It’d be like me going up to an old-school Doctor Who fan and telling them I was there - witnessing the early stuff - as it happened. And of course, I wasn’t. And I don’t pretend to have been. Yes, I’m passionate about it now, more so the new series, but I don’t claim to have always been a follower.
Like I say, I don’t know why it bothers me. It just always has. Now back to Wallace & Gromit, which was excellent.
Somehow I managed to fit seeing the film into my jam-packed schedule on Friday. And it did not disappoint. The animation itself was incredible. I’ve done a wee bit of stop motion animation before so can appreciate (to an extent at least) the animators’ painstaking efforts to achieve something so complex.
The trailer really did disappoint when I saw it, as the story came across as boring and the increase in characters made the film seem unfaithful to the duo’s previous escapades. But watching the actual film, the story is wonderful and it truly *is* Wallace & Gromit through and through.
Something that did seem a little… odd, was Wallace’s treatment towards Gromit in certain places. True, Wallace’s interest in his piece of Totty (and we all know which piece!) could’ve had something to do with this. But he managed to remain friendly with Gromit when Wendoline was on the scene in A Close Shave. (I could easily speculate further on this matter, but I won’t because of spoilers.)
And Wallace going by the name of “Mister Wallace” didn’t sit right either. Still, the film was a masterpiece and I’m sure it will be enjoyed by all.