Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is in cinemas, now

★★★★☆

There is something wonderfully reassuring about Shaun the Sheep. You know chaos is coming, you know the sheep will somehow make everything considerably worse, and you know Aardman will find a way to make you laugh without needing to say a word.

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom does exactly that – and looks absolutely magnificent while doing it.

The story sees Shaun investigating a mysterious culprit after Mossy Bottom’s beloved pumpkin patch is destroyed just before Halloween. What follows is a wonderfully silly adventure packed with visual jokes, genre references and the kind of beautifully crafted stop-motion animation that makes you occasionally forget you are watching something made frame by painstaking frame.

Visually, this is a triumph.

The colour palette is gorgeous, the detail is extraordinary and the animation itself is so good that there are moments when you genuinely won’t believe you’re watching stop motion.

In a year that also brings Toy Story 5, it feels worth saying just how good Aardman is at this. Pixar may have perfected computer animation, but when it comes to stop motion, Aardman are hands down among the very best in the business.

In fact, The Beast of Mossy Bottom feels like exactly the sort of film that should be in the conversation when awards season arrives. It is painstakingly made, beautifully composed and packed with tiny details that reward paying attention.

And then there is the fact that there is no dialogue.

On paper, that really shouldn’t work. A feature-length family animation with characters who don’t actually speak sounds like an enormous gamble.

In reality, it only adds to the joyous escapism.

Shaun, Bitzer and the rest of the Mossy Bottom gang communicate through expressions, movement, sound effects and brilliantly timed reactions. The voice work around them helps bring the world to life, while the soundtrack gives the film an additional sense of energy and personality.

Most importantly, it is genuinely funny.

Aardman has spent decades developing its own very particular style of comedy through Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. Here, the jokes come thick and fast, often happening in the background or in a tiny visual detail that could easily be missed.

The decision to play with classic film genres is particularly inspired.

There are countless little reference points and visual homages throughout the film, and Aardman understands that parody works best when it comes from genuine affection for the source material. The fact that a family animation can effectively parody something as iconic as Psycho – and actually make it work brilliantly – tells you a lot about the confidence and craft behind the film.

It also helps that The Beast of Mossy Bottom never feels like it is trying too hard to be clever. It remains a hugely accessible, silly and charming Shaun adventure first and foremost.

There are some lovely celebrity voices along the way, including Dani Dyer, Nina Sosanya, Paul Whitehouse and Roman Kemp, while Rizzle Kicks provide a new spin on the iconic Life’s a Treat theme.

But ultimately, the biggest star is Aardman itself.

There is something particularly satisfying about seeing such a traditionally British style of animation backed for the big screen by Sky. The Beast of Mossy Bottom feels tailor-made for family cinema trips now, and it is almost inevitable that it will make the transition from the big screen to the small screen before too long.

It certainly feels like a natural Christmas viewing choice.

And it deserves to be a monster hit.

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is funny, gorgeous to look at and packed with enough detail to keep children entertained while giving adults plenty of reasons to smile too.

It may not quite reach the very highest heights of Aardman’s greatest work where dialogue allows more from Wallace and Gromit, but this is still a beautifully made, hugely entertaining piece of family cinema.

Four stars. Catch the film I’m the big screen, book to see it at your local VUE cinema, now. Get the free VUE app to start collecting rewards.

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