Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015)

This is topic Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-09-2015, 06:41 PM:

CINEMA: Cinemark Movies 12, Ames, IA
AUDITORIUM: 3
PRESENTATION: Barco DLP
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Three and one half stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: The sheep plan a day off. Wackiness ensues.

Sure the latest from Aardman Animations is amazing because of its stop-motion animation. Sure it has an adorable story. But possibly the thing that makes it really amazing is that it is, for all intents and purposes, a silent movie.

It isn't literally...the characters make noises...but they're not speaking a discernible language. You can play this anywhere in the world and you won't need subtitles or overdubs. It just...works.

I can't imagine an age group this movie doesn't play well for except maybe teens who see themselves as too cool for it. It's completely accessible for kids down to maybe even toddlers, yet has enough cleverness, humor, and in-jokes (the best being shout outs to a couple of classic thrillers) for adults. This is Aardman firing on all cylinders.

Stay through the credits. Not that there's a scene (there's something) but because they're just so well done. And you only had to bank 85 minutes for this anyway.

I consider it a travesty that this won't be one of Summer's nine-figure blockbusters.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 08-09-2015, 08:35 PM:

it's such a zany fun movie - I loved it... [Smile]

Posted by Matt Russell (Member # 8989) on 08-30-2015, 08:26 PM:

I have to admit, I enjoyed this slightly more than Inside Out. Short, but feels right in length, funny, but not reluctant on fart jokes, and silly, but acceptable since it's sheep. Lots of people were complimenting Minions on how it was a "hard movie to write since the characters can't speak English", well this is a movie that has NO actual dialogue , everything's told by either character interactions, expressions, grunts. and signs. And yet besides all of this, you still really get a clear understanding on Shaun, Bitzer the dog, the farmer, even the exterminator in the movie! The landscapes in the movie were also stunning, even by stop-motion standards, it's a very neatly made and fun-to-look it city. Overall, Shaun the Sheep Movie is one of the cutest movies of the year and EVERY age group will like it in one way or another.
Film: 4 out of 4 stars
Presentation 3 and a half out of 4 stars (only problem was there were caps on both side of the screen, but it wasn't really noticeable)