Rating: ****
Review Date: 12/24/15
Aardman Productions' "Shaun The Sheep" makes it to the big screen in this delightful animated adventure. Tired of the same old routine on the farm, Shaun dreams of taking a day off. He and the other sheep come up with a clever plan to have some fun, but it naturally backfires. The farmer ends up in a runaway camper that heads towards the big city, and the resulting crash leaves him with a head injury and amnesia. Bitzer runs off to the city to try and rescue him, while Shaun and the other sheep devise a rescue plan of their own. Unfortunately, a wicked animal control officer named Trumper interferes and makes a mess of everything.
As you would expect from Aardman, the animation is superb. The lighting, depth, and texture provides so much more warmth and character than CGI does, and the craftsmanship is exquisite. The film contains no dialog, and the story is told solely through body language, visual cues, and sound effects. It's really quite brilliant, and very reminiscent of the early Lego video games. The characters are all very charming and the film relies heavily on clever sight gags. It's definitely a "must see" for animation fans and visual effects lovers, and its lighthearted humor should appeal to all ages.