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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Chicken Run

Universal acclaim
Based on 34 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 29 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Family/Kids
Written by:
Peter Lord (story)
Nick Park (story)
Karey Kirkpatrick
Directed by:
Peter Lord
Nick Park
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 21, 2000
DVD: November 21, 2000
Running Time: 84 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
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.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
It's aimed at adults as much as children, with jokes that work on multiple levels, and contraptions.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
People who have seen it seem to be crazy about it.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
It will be the most talked-about comedy of summer.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's a purely winning film.
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.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A delightful, perceptive, funny, detail-perfect fable.
Read Full Review >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!
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Film.com John Hartl
All but guarantees that you'll want to see Chicken Run more than once.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
A scene set inside the chicken-pie-making machinery proves that the Rube Goldberg formula is infallible.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Not only funny and wicked, clever and visually inventive, but . . . kind and sweet. Tender and touching.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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."
Read Full Review >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."
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Per M gave it an8:
A very good movie that contains jokes and interesting scenes for kids and adults alike. Sure, there are things that could be done in other ways, but it is certainly entertaining, funny and clever enough as it is.
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??
