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Chicken Run
DreamWorks


7.2

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

MPAA RATING: G for General Audiences

Starring Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, and Miranda Richardson

A claymation spoof of classic prison-camp flicks like "The Great Escape." One of the birds hatches a plot to fly the coop at Tweedy's Chicken Farm.

GENRE(S):	Family/Kids
WRITTEN BY:	Peter Lord (story) Nick Park (story) Karey Kirkpatrick
DIRECTED BY:	Peter Lord Nick Park
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 21, 2000 Video: November 21, 2000 Theatrical: June 21, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	84 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's aimed at adults as much as children, with jokes that work on multiple levels, and contraptions.

100

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

People who have seen it seem to be crazy about it.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

It will be the most talked-about comedy of summer.

100

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The visual comedy is brilliant.

100

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's a purely winning film.

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The suspense isn't exactly breathtaking, but there are some mighty fine laughs in this clever Claymation cartoon.Family fun for all.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

A delightful, perceptive, funny, detail-perfect fable.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Flock (don't walk) to the theater to see Chicken Run.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Gleefully blurs the line between species. Vive la révolution!

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Doesn't try to cram messages of uplift down its audience's gullet. It's a great eggscape from banality.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Never loses its priceless stamp of individuality. Reduced to its essence, this is a joke told by a person, not a corporation--and that makes all the difference.

LA Weekly F. X. Feeney

A delirious fable about every creature's need for espace.

Newsweek David Ansen

It starts quietly, introducing its splendid gallery of fowl, rats and humans, then builds and builds until it achieves full comic liftoff.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Technically superb and witty in an old-fashioned, veddy British way that will delight many adults but will sail over the heads of young audiences.

Film.com Tom Keogh

Finally, there's a female action hero for the summer of 2000, and she's a . . . chicken. But a chicken to believe in.

Film.com John Hartl

All but guarantees that you'll want to see Chicken Run more than once.

Salon.com Michael Sragow

This movie's cornucopia of humorous riffs and stunts never fails to amuse or enthrall because it never ceases to be unexpected.

TNT RoughCut Heather Fehere

A movie that kids may want to see again and again, and adults will be happy to oblige.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It may sound silly, but Lord and Park conjure up a world of visual miracles.

Slate David Edelstein

Poetry in motion: It's eggsquisite.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

A scene set inside the chicken-pie-making machinery proves that the Rube Goldberg formula is infallible.

Film.com Sean Means

That rare movie, a clever and unabashedly fun adventure that has as many winning moments as it has hen's teeth -- which is quite a lot.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Not only funny and wicked, clever and visually inventive, but . . . kind and sweet. Tender and touching.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

A little slapstick, a little action, rich characters and a whopping serving of wit. All baked to near-perfection.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

There's nothing paltry about its poultry.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Imbued with infectious pluck. It's also a lucid, competent, titanically entertaining movie loaded with workable gags.

New York Daily News Staff (Not Credited)

Funny, even thrilling.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A bizarre, thrilling, warmly funny spoof of the WWII Steve McQueen prison camp thriller, "The Great Escape" remade for a near all-chicken cast.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

It is not only an amazing technical accomplishment, it's also the wittiest and best-voiced animated movie to come along in years.

TV Guide Stephen Miller

Who'd have thought you'd find yourself caring so much about the fate of a flock of fryers? This chicken has legs -- lots of them.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Absolutely delightful filmmaking, chock-full of gorgeously goofy animation and a storyline that cleverly echoes everything from "Stalag 17" to "Cool Hand Luke."

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The package is perfectly irresistible.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

That rare kids' movie that may be even more entertaining for its intended audience's adult companions.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A combination of "Barnyard Follies" and "Schindler's List."

The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Connor gave it a9:
A fun, entertaining film with plenty of uniquely English humor.

Panhandle M. gave it a10:
I ate a sandwich this morning and I was reminded of Chicken Run...what a spectacular film that was. It seems so far away now. Everything was simpler then.

Patrick D. gave it an8:
A great movie.

Scott J. gave it a10:
Chicken Run is a wonderful movie for both children and adults. It is from Aardman Studios, the makers of the delightful British clay-mation Wallace and Gromit short films, about an eccentric inventor and his dog. These guys have mastered clay-mation and turned it into a form of art, winning 3 Academy Awards so far. Chicken Run keeps both the style and the heart of the Wallace and Gromit series, but features chickens as the main characters. They are prisoners in a POW-style chicken coop and desperately want to escape from their increasingly evil owner, Mrs. Tweedee, when a handsome stranger (voiced by Mel Gibson) lands in their midst and offers them hope. The youngest children (like my 4-year-old) might be scared by an off-screen beheading of one of the chickens and some of the tense chase scenes, but other than that the movie has lots of harmless fun and several gently-applied messages about perseverance and loyalty. Adults (like me) will appreciate the amazing humanity that the artists bring to these lumps of clay, and marvel that an entire movie can be made, and made very well, by such a labor-intensive manual technique.

Andrew M gave it a 7:
Chicken Run is very entertaining. It is also very original. And it is very distinctive. But unfortunately it doesn't quite reach its potential. I think its brought slightly undone in, and by, its more earnest moments; it just loses some magic, seems more ordinary. It shines more in the madcap nature that permeates through most of the story...the crazy antics in the coop are endlessly more enjoyable than, for eg, the sensitive, poignant moments shared between the 'lead chooks'. The story itself makes big promises; there are periods, no doubt, when you feel that the film is about to really lift off and take you on a wonderful journey...but at best it only ever flies as competently and comfortably as the lumbering mechanical 'bird' at the end. In the main though, this film is a wonderful achievement and will leave you feeling pretty well treated afterwards.

Grace gave it a 0:
Oh man, how much worse could it get??

Katie P. gave it a 0:
I hated this movie.

Chicken Run DreamWorks

Chicken Run
DreamWorks