Shaun the Sheep: Farmegeddon
Ten Second Review: Difficult to not enjoy, Aardman uses Farmegeddon to once again highlight the beauty and creativity still to be seen in stop motion work.
I have a few friends who have a sincere dislike of animated films. While I’ve tried my best, to take a look at it from a few angles, it’s not a dislike that I can honestly understand. The remark that it’s “juvenile” is neither a broad fact that can be placed on the art form or a successful insult. Not every film needs to be hard and dry drama and not every animated film is devoid of all dramatic depth. There is also the suggestion that film is an art form, therefore the aesthetic of the final product alone is enough to justify its value.
Following on from - all though in no way related to - the first Shaun the Sheep film, Farmegeddon tells the story of an alien crash landing in Mossingham and finding its way to Shaun’s farm. In a classic tale of reaching home, Shaun and his friends are drawn in to an adventure helping this intergalactic friend find their way back to their planet.
Aardman continues to remind us why we love animation, and in particular stop motion animation. With basically no words and extremely limited text, they are able to tell a lovely story that’s full of laughs. With Farmegeddonthey once again prove that there it’s worth the extra time to make something that would be hard not to enjoy.
The reason I began with my friends’ dislike of animated films is because last New Year’s Day, after partaking in a libation too many the night previous, we managed to go out for breakfast before slumping on to her sofa and watching Shaun the Sheep. She absolutely loved it. While this underlined the key secondary demographic for these types of films (hungover twenty-somethings), it also highlighted why Aardman is still looked to as a beacon of animated cinema; they are masters of “show don’t tell”.
You can show that film to any person of any age and they would be able to grapple with the story. Cut that together with pop culture references that will amuse kids while giving older audiences something to engage with, as well as some solid writing, and what you’re left with is a heartwarming story, a beautiful piece of craft and an entertaining film.
Farmegeddon is probably not as good as Shaun the Sheep: The Movie. It looks just as good - at points even better - and is still very sweet, but I think I just preferred the first one’s story. That may be entirely down to personal preference I have no doubt some will prefer this story to that, but have no doubt that this film is a good watch. Whether it’s a rainy weekday with the kids, or a hungover Sunday with your friends, this is not only an easy pick, it’s a lovely reminder about the joy of stop motion animation.
