Chicken Run Dawn of the Nugget (2023) is a much awaited sequel to the legendary Ardman Animation classic, Chicken Run (2000). Chicken Run was an original storytelling of Ginger, an ambitious chicken stuck in a farm, destined to be turned into a pie. The original story was heroic, original and utterly hilarious. The sequel had nostalgia to bring and plenty of expectations to exceed, with a new voice cast and modern look on life Dawn of the Nugget (2000) defiantly lost aspects of the originals charm.
The story was somewhat scrambled, with a childlike simplicity it didn’t deliver the obvious statements which felt like a sad oversight. Rocky and Ginger have done all they can to keep their chick, Molly, from leaving the safety of their island but as children do, Molly decides to disobey and finds herself prisoner in a high security farm. With a few subtle nods to ‘free range’ and ‘organic’ modes of production the film doesn’t embrace these obvious puns and directions of storytelling. Sadly, the narrative remains surface level and refrains from delving deeper into a metaphoric plot, unlike its predecessor. The original Chicken Run had layers of intelligence and complexity, the sequel didn’t, it felt like it was exclusively made for the new generation rather than the generation who grew up with the original.
Although I was disappointed with the film as a whole, I was beyond pleased to sit down and watch it. After 23 years of not thinking we’d ever see the chickens again, it was fun to see the aftermath of the original film. It was a time to reminisce and indulge in my childhood favourite, even though I still believe this sequel was completely unnecessary.
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