Movie Review: Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A delightful new Shaun the Sheep movie. 

 In this third Shaun feature film, Shaun is disappointed when the pumpkins he has been growing for him and the other sheep to crave are accidentally destroyed before Halloween. He takes to creating science experiments to make a new batch of pumpkins grow extra quickly. At the same time the farmer wants to ask the pretty vet out to the Halloween Hoedown but is nervous because of his receding hairline. Unfortunately for both Shaun and the farmer, these two stories collide. 

While it may not have the moving emotional moments of the first Shaun movie (the scene with all the sheep singing Feels Like Summer to little Timmy is both funny and touching), this movie makes up for it by simply being a lot of fun. The storyline is at once simple and delightfully clever. There is so much creativity going on here that it is hard not to appreciate it. Not only is the story very clever but the gags are quite clever as well. I saw this in a theater with no kids and most of the audience was laughing at quite a few of the jokes. This whole film is full of the gentle but clever slapstick that fans from this franchise already love. Every gag involving little Timmy put a smile on my face immediately. However, even funnier are the pop culture references. The references to Thriller and Psycho specially made me laugh out loud. Though this movie may not tug at your heart strings like the first film, you still care about the characters. This makes you still have an emotional connection to what is a very silly story. There is one scene where I felt very sorry for Shaun and wanted to give him a big hug. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the franchise, there is no spoken dialogue here, though all the characters do make sounds when they "speak." Because of the lack of dialogue music is of course very important. This is the first time Natalie Holt has done the music for Shaun, and she is a perfect fit. She knows just when to be playful with the music and when to play it straight. And when she does get playful, she never overdoes it. The music also helps add a fun Halloween-y atmosphere to this film, while still fitting the lighthearted tone. 

A shear delight.