The Case for being Sheepish

A TV show called Shaun the Sheep.  Aardman Productions.  Put them together in movie form and you have magic.

Odd that for a movie with basically no dialogue, I laughed more than I would have in any of the most recent comedies I have seen advertised starring Adam Sandler.  I deliberately avoid those as I am a snob and want to save myself for the delightful treats of films like this, where subtle and obvious and old and immature humour combine and mush together to form overall a great ball of woolly fun.

The plot is super simple.  Shaun and his dimmer flossy friends conspire to send their beloved farmer to the city so they can live a life less ovinely ordinary.  However, after a short period of Gremlins like behaviour, the sheep realise they miss their nominal master and set off into the city to try and get him back.  Mirth and merriment ensue.

As I went to the latest session at 6pm, it was not that surprising to find that the audience (about half full in one of the smaller Readings cinemas) was mostly adult, but it was wonderful and a bit surprising to hear regular laughter as many of the jokes and japes hit home.

There is not much else to say besides the fact that this was short (for a film), sweet and stupid all in amazingly wonderful measures.  Fashion, driving, animal control, mesmerism and what constitutes beauty all get covered and used for amazing effect, and in the end, everyone left the film with a smile on their face.  

I still have no idea what half the lyrics to the Shaun the Sheep theme song are about, but I was humming it on the way home nonetheless.

Verdict: Another Aardman classic, this one with barely a comprehensible word.  Masterpiece.  8 shearings out of 10.