There are Russiadays when everything feels like too much. Maybe it's the news that's making your blood pressure spike. Maybe you're drowning under a pile of work. Maybe you're dealing with some personal bullshit. Or maybe it's just been one of those weeks, and you could really use a break right about now.
Whatever it is that ails you, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddonjust might be the solution.
Clever enough for the adults in the room but tame enough for the kiddos (it's rated G), with a soft silliness that should win over just about anyone, Farmageddonis the ideal wind-down for a weary soul. It may not be as emotional as a Pixar movie or as energetic as a Minions one, but that's its appeal. It's just nice, like an even less intense Paddington.
Farmageddon never feels like a mere retread, because there's nothing lazy about it.
Though it's technically a sequel to 2015's Shaun the Sheep Movie, there's no need to fret if you haven't seen the first one. Farmageddonlays out everything you need to know about this universe and its characters in the first few minutes: Shaun (voiced by Justin Fletcher) and his fellow sheep enjoy a blissful but boring existence at Mossy Bottom Farm, spending their days trying to sneak in some hijinks when sheepdog Bitzer (John Sparkes) isn't watching.
In typical Aardman Animation style, all of this information is conveyed wordlessly, through bleats, grunts, barks, and a slew of giggle-worthy sight gags — like a montage of Bitzer putting up sign after sign forbidding the flock from whatever shenanigan they've just gotten up to. Farmageddondoesn't require an understanding of human language, but it does reward the attentive viewer.
Into this idyll crash-lands a new character who'll upend all their lives: Lu-La (Amalia Vitale), an alien visitor with powers of telekinesis, telepathy, and extreme cuteness. She makes fast friends with Shaun, and together they dodge Bitzer, unsuspecting humans, and shadowy government agents in an effort to get her back home.
Lu-La discovers Earth candy. Credit: Chris Johnson / Netflix The plot, in other words, is basically just E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, plus some affectionate nods to other classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Jaws. But Farmageddonnever feels like a mere retread, because there's nothing lazy about it. Every last dimple and crease of this stop-motion world feels hand-crafted with care, even when they're in service of dumb jokes that exist solely to make you snort.
Lu-La, with her puppy-dog eyes and sparkly gummy-worm arms, gives Baby Yoda and Baby Groot a run for their money in the "instantly lovable alien" department, but smaller characters like Muggins, a sycophantic robot, or the nameless hazmat-suited workers at the government lab, also get their moments.
There's even a surprising amount of character development for these characters, particularly as mischievous Shaun finds himself in the unusual position of being the responsible one for a change. You can see the major twists and emotional beats coming from a mile away, but that's part of Farmageddon's soothing charm, too: You don't have to worry too much when things look dire, because you know it'll all turn out okay in the end.
And they do, even if it takes some intergalactic travel, a lot of heavy-duty teamwork, and one super-janky amusement park to get there. Farmageddonwon't blow your mind with its insight or its originality; it's got nothing much deeper to say than "Maybe be nice to people." But after a rough day or week or month, its gentle alien embrace might be exactly what you need.
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is streaming now on Netflix.
Topics Netflix
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