Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave

I loved the second W&G adventure, TWT, and when I heard that this movie was as good as that one, I just had to check it out. Sadly, I was disappointed. The story isn't near as original, and the light suspense there was in TWT is sadly missed. Despite some amusing sight gags and the amazing claymation techonology, I was left fairly bored by this movie. For an excellent short claymation movie I strongly recommend TWT, by FAR the best of the (for now) trilogy. Forget about AGDO, their first adventure, it's quite boring too.

This is the third Wallace & Gromit short. As you'd expect, the quality of the character design is greatly improved from the first Wallace & Gromit short. Instead of the claymation, soft plastic figures that are poseable are used instead. Additionally, the sets are much more complex and detailed. Now this isn't to say that the stuff in the earlier films is bad--far from it. It's just that with each successive project, the artistry improves.

The only complaint I have about this delightful film, and it's a minor one, is that by this third short, the story has become a lot more fanciful and action-packed. In this film, less time is spent being laid-back and gentle (as well as very English) and Gromit even gets to fight against a cyborg dog! But, in spite of this, the film still works very well. Additionally, if you watch this film and the later full-length movie, WALLACE & GROMIT AND THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, you'll see that there are some similarities in the stories. The dog is pretty similar as is his owner to the lady in the full-length film. Again, these really aren't complaints as much as observations.

Overall, a wonderful short film and one you can't help but love. It's wonderful and I can certainly understand why it, too, won an Oscar for Best Animated Short (like its predecessor).

Wallace and Gromit: A close shave has to be my favourite out of all four Wallace and Gromit movies. It has better clay animation then the other two, the story is excellent, it is never boring (with A Grand Day Out I found some scenes boring) and you can even watch it two times in a row its that good! In Wallace and Gromit's adventure there is a sheep rustler, Wallace falls in love and Wallace and Gormit are ensare in a malevolent mystery only they can unravel.

I saw a close shave years ago but I still really like it all these years later, I think most people that see the Wallace and gromit like them and like them still years later. Thats whats great about all the Wallace and Gromit movies adults and children alike can enjoy them.

Overall I think this is the best in the Wallace and Gromit series and I highly recommend it!

Of all the W&G films A Close Shave is by far the best of all. Not only is the animation far more polished & detailed than its earlier predecessors, A Grand Day Out (1992) and The Wrong Trousers ('93). But in addition the story is far more engaging, light & humourous compared to the darker more mechanical nature of TWT (my least favourite of the three).

For the first time, A Close Shave introduces an extra dimension to the W&G pairing, in the form of Wendolene, a lady woolshop owner who Wallace falls in love with when both he & Gromit clean her shop windows.

With the addition of a female into the story we are given a little more character development concerning Wallace. The previous two stories only centred around his self-serving interests in cheese, inventions, making money and relying on his pet pooch to get him out of sticky situations. But in ACS we are offered a more rounded perspective of his personal life and his keeness to have a woman sharing his home at long last.

As the film progresses the relationship between the couple grows, in spite of all the dangers & hazards that they face along the way. And by the end of the film we are left on tenterhooks as to whether Wendolene will finally move in with W&G for good!

So not only is the animation and attention to detail significantly improved over TWT but so too is the characterisation and storyline. The voice of Wallace, Peter Sallis, is dependable & easy on the ear, even though he doesn't have much to say compared to the previous films.

But it is to Gromit where the real plaudits lie. Because he can't speak (or bark apparently!) we have to rely on his facial expression to understand how he feels & reacts to those around him. Because of the wonderful attention to animated detail Nick Park and his crew have spent, we can connect & relate very easily to Gromit's body language, especially within his eyes. I don't think I've ever seen such wonderful expressions since Laurel & Hardy. In fact the next time you have the benefit of seeing a L&H film take note of Ollie's facial expressions to-camera and you'll understand the comparison between him & Gromit.

Its now 6 years since the last W&G installment and it is to be hoped that Nick Park will do another follow up. I only hope he doesn't rely on lifeless cgi for his animation technique. On average it took NP between 2 to 3 years for each of the W&G episodes. But it was worth the wait. However, the Dreamworks Studio to which NP is affiliated, may not like having to wait such a long time for the next installment to be made, a may insist on using computer animation rather than clay to speed the production process up somewhat.

Chicken Run (2000), NP's first full-feature movie in conjunction with Dreamworks was, on the whole, ok. But the story seemed so formulaic & safe that you just knew the studio had "influenced" the production more than NP would have liked. And as a result you get a bland film built on hype. So I only hope the next W&G doesn't follow the same route otherwise the entire W&G franchise will be ruined for the sake of the mighty dollar yet again.

****/*****

Wallace and Gromit has proved that over the years, they can still entertain. This episode is not quite as funny as Wrong Trousers, but there was never a dull moment. I loved the love subplot with Wendolene and Wallace, and it never distracted from the story, otherwise it would have gone downhill. Shaun the Sheep is so cute as himself, and Gromit proves his facial expressions are still funny. I loved Wendolene and Preston, but my favourite in this episode were the sheep. That scene with the motorcycle pursuing the van, and the sheep on the ladder, was priceless. Another funny scene was the jailbreak, when Wallace slips on the soap, and the sheep come crashing down on him. There is a touch of heartbreak here also, as you feel so sorry for Gromit. In conclusion, a brilliant short and a must see! 10/10 Bethany Cox