Wednesday, October 12, 2005

The clay man and his clay dog

The Cricketson household has been eagerly awaiting the release of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

When I saw that it got a 94% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, I was ecstatic. This would mean that W&G would live up to our expectations!

P was unfamiliar, but I coaxed him by phone yesterday to come see it with J and I. With the anticipated adult humor, I figured it would be good exposure for him to the witty Britty pair.

I'm actually happy he declined.

This movie doesn't deserve a 94% rating; it is based on their cultish following. The reviewers believed their own buzz.

It deserves more like a 70% rating: Fresh, but not that Fresh. It's left over salad.

This reviewer summed it up for me at RT:
"Wallace and Gromit is clever but rarely funny. It's too quaint, too perfectly fine."--
Mark Palermo, COAST (HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA)

Yes, clever. Their pest control company is called Anti-Pesto.

Yes, clever. Wallace can't curse in a children's movie, so he exclaims things like, "Hoover Dam!" and "Shiitake Mushrooms!" instead.

Once again, I am embarrassingly in tune with the Ebert & Roeper pair:
"It's slightly amusing and I'd say when it comes out on video or if you catch it on cable, but to rush out to theaters..."--
Richard Roeper, EBERT & ROEPER

It was number one in the box office last week.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

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