This latest Wallace and Gromit short is sure different in some ways from the first short, A GRAND DAY OUT WITH WALLACE AND GROMIT. The first film used simpler technology--mostly because Nick Park had been working on much of the film on his own before he came to work for Aardman. The characters were clearly made of clay (with fingerprints on them) and the sets were much simpler. In contrast, in A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, the characters look like they were computer generated (I don't think this is true, however) because they were much smoother and they appeared to be using soft poseable plastic dolls. Also, the backgrounds and additional characters are light-years ahead of the first film. All this is to be expected, as the company has grown and learned a lot over the years--as well as picking up several Oscars along the way for their great work.

Now this isn't saying that the new film is total perfection. While it is very cute and watchable, it does suffer from two things. Perhaps the earlier films were a bit funnier. In fact, I saw a couple of these older shorts again just a few days ago and I think the humor was a bit brighter and sillier. Another minor problem is that this film reminded me an awful lot of WALLACE AND GROMIT IN A CLOSE SHAVE. Both films featured Wallace falling in love and in both cases, the ladies ended up being very wicked, indeed! In fact, when I first started watching A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, I automatically assumed that lady was the killer--just like the lady in this previous film was the sheep-napper. And, like in the other film, it's up to Gromit to save the day because Wallace is too big a doofus to realize what is happening...which, by the way, reminds me a lot of WALLACE AND GROMIT AND THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT.

So, as you can see, there isn't much new under the sun in this film. However, its handled so well and beautifully that you can still enjoy this rather derivative yet engaging film.

UPDATE--2/18/10 I just went to a show of the Oscar-nominated animated shorts. This film was one of the five. However, when compared to the other four films, this was my least favorite as it didn't innovate at all and other Wallace & Gromit films are better. This isn't to say it's a bad film or I hated it--I just can't see it deserving the Oscar. My prediction is that LOGORAMA will win, though my very favorite is the somewhat morbid THE OLD LADY AND THE REAPER. Stay tuned in March to see if I am correct.

A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH is a Wallace and Gromit adventure without the charm that made the Claymation shorts so endearing in the first place. This is a fast-paced, Hollywood-style adventure packed with in-jokes and scenes copied from anything and everything; the bit that most stood out for me was Gromit's misadventures with the bomb which recall the old BATMAN movie with Adam West.

The main plot is a copy of THE WRONG TROUSERS with a less endearing narrative structure and unlikeable characters. The cosy British feel has gone to be replaced with breakneck action, big scenery. mannered caricatures, and set-pieces. Sure, the quality of the stop motion is still very good, but other than keeping Peter Sallis in work, this has very little to recommend it.

Nick Park's favourite creations Wallace and Grommit are back for another short feature, and 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' will appeal to all who loved the earlier stories. Perhaps the duo's latest outing lacks some of the freshness of their original appearances; but the detail of Park's gentle parodies of a certain vision of Englishness is as loving and humorous as ever, and the claymation approach saves the film from the curse of excess speed that mars much computer-generated animation. In some ways, the Wallace and Grommit films feel as if they belong to the world they depict, rather than our own, coarser one; long may they continue!