It's been 23 years since Ginger, Rocky and co broke out of Mrs Tweedy's farm and the long-awaited sequel, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, has finally hatched.
Chicken Run fans had to wait a little while longer for the sequel to arrive on Netflix after its world premiere in October. However, they can now rest assured that it's been worth the wait as it's a worthy follow-up to the first movie, which remains the biggest stop-motion movie of all time.
It's not entirely perfect as those controversial voice cast changes certainly make an impact, but Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is still very funny, brilliantly crafted and quintessential Aardman.
After a quick recap of the first movie for any newcomers, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget kicks off with Ginger (Thandiwe Newton), Rocky (Zachary Levi) and the rest of the flock living in peace on their island sanctuary.
Their lives change forever when their daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey) is hatched and begins to take after her mother with a desire to not remain cooped up in one place. When a seemingly idyllic farm on the mainland draws Molly's attention, Ginger senses a new threat to chicken-kind is coming.
Dusting off all the skills they learned escaping Tweedy's farm, Ginger, Rocky and the flock need to risk their own freedom to break into the new farm and hopefully save chicken-kind from a terrible new fate.
There's only one place to start with Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and it's with those much-talked-about cast changes. Since Julia Sawalha announced in July 2020 that she wasn't coming back as Ginger, sparking accusations of ageism (though her replacement, Thandiwe Newton is only five years younger), it's something that Chicken Run fans have been uneasy with.
The release of the first trailer in September 2023 reignited the controversy, although the blow was lessened by the surprise reveal of Mrs Tweedy's return, still voiced by Miranda Richardson. It means the sequel has a weird mix of familiar voices, including Jane Horrocks as the still-iconic Babs, and new voices such as Daniel Mays as Fetcher.
Some changes work better than others, with Thandiwe Newton doing a good approximation of Sawalha's work as Ginger and David Bradley (replacing the late Benjamin Whitrow) excellent as Fowler.
There are others though that just don't work, such as Zachary Levi as Rocky. It's not that we'd want Mel Gibson back, so much as Levi just doesn't sound at all like Rocky. For a long-awaited sequel, it's a shame to have not reunited with more of the cast who made the first movie so beloved, and it regularly takes you out of the movie.
It's fortunate that every other aspect of Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget resembles the first movie. From the often very silly gags (especially one inspired "Eye Pad" sequence) to the madcap invention of the set pieces, it's a sequel that fans will savour once they get used to the new voices.
While the structure is similar, this isn't just a retread of the original movie. Things have been scaled up to an impressive degree, especially in the James Bond meets Star Wars design of the central Fun-Land Farms. It both looks like the first movie and also makes use of modern technology to augment the visuals.
The sequel being released on Netflix is a double-edged sword. You'll regret not being able to see it in its full glory on a big screen, but equally be glad that you can rewatch and pause various moments to catch all the details and gags packed into each frame.
Another aspect that makes the sequel feel like the first movie is its darkness. Even though it's a family movie, there's gallows humour here akin to Babs knitting a noose in the first movie. A late sequence, audaciously soundtracked to Cliff Richard's 'Summer Holiday', might even be one of the creepiest of the year.
And, of course, we can't avoid talking about the return of Mrs Tweedy. She's back to cause trouble for Ginger again and not just in a one-scene cameo, but we won't spoil exactly what she's up to here.
As fun as it would have been for it to be a total surprise, she's given an entrance worthy of her classic status. She's had a glow-up to become a full-on Bond villain, complete with lair and faithful assistant Dr Fry (a scene-stealing Nick Mohammed). Once Mrs Tweedy gets involved, you'll forget about the voice changes and revel in seeing these characters again.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget might be halted from being a perfect sequel due to those big cast changes, yet it's still an excellent follow-up to the first movie that will delight fans and likely bring new ones into the flock.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget is out now on Netflix.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
