Charles Merritt went along to see Aardman’s return the big screen with Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. Is it any good? Should the film’s Halloween setting make us wary of our children watching it? And what does it say about the dangers of meddling in God’s creation and the importance of raising children who use science for good?
Age rating: U
Runtime: 91 minutes
See this if you liked: Shaun the Sheep: The Movie; Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Synopsis:
Shaun the Sheep inadvertently creates a monster and, when the whole village try to hunt it, it’s up to Shaun and his friends to save the beast from being captured.
Review:
I love Aardman and I love Shaun the Sheep but, for me, this didn’t quite hit the heights of their other movies.
When the farmer accidentally squashes Shaun and the gang’s pumpkin patch, Shaun turns to science to try and grow a new pumpkin in time for Halloween.
One thing leads to another and a hairy “monster” is born.
Aardman are some of the masters of animation and the action sequences are well handled and paced. As you’d expect, there are some incredibly funny jokes – including a reccurring gag about a teenager being chronically online and missing out on the bizarre events that are happening around him. Sadly, the good jokes are too few and far between to keep the family entertained for the duration of the movie.
Despite it being set at Halloween, there’s very little Halloween in the movie.
Additionally, what is normally Shaun the Sheep’s charm – no words but bleats and grunts – works against itself in this movie. The lack of dialogue was noticeable and meant that the film dragged. When you consider its runtime, it’s an impressive yet tragic feat! It would have worked better as a 45–60-minute TV special.
For those concerned how scary this movie is, it’s as mild as a korma. Despite it being set at Halloween, there’s very little Halloween in the movie, apart from a costume shop and the aforementioned pumpkins. There are lots of references to the classic Universal monster movies, but these are likely to go over kids’ heads and are mainly played for laughs than any sinister moments.
In fact, a much better movie is Aardman’s own Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and, on reflection, I’m not sure why they bothered making this one when they’d already perfected the monster comedy genre back in 2005.
Faith thoughts:
To be honest, it’s hard to dig into the themes given that there’s no dialogue to provide deep theological insight or wisdom.
However, as with any mad-scientist-creating-a-monster movie, it’s another reminder of how as humans we can mess with the natural only to wreak havoc on others as a result.
In fact, Genetically Modified (GM) farming was not what I was expecting to see from a Shaun the Sheep movie, and yet, it’s Shaun’s experimental growth juice that kickstarts the events of the movie.
Without trying to make too much out of what is meant simply to be an entertaining movie for families, the theme of messing with nature seems to be the only one I could pick out.
We try and better God, only to cause utter mayhem and more problems for ourselves.
God does want us to create and join Him in His creation. However, sometimes we meddle too much in what God has created for us. We try and better God, only to cause utter mayhem and more problems for ourselves (I’m looking at you AI).
The movie also briefly references how humans’ quest for ease of life has had major environmental implications, through a fun gag about a vet having to stop mid-chase to save sea creatures caught up in plastic. It’s another important reminder that our everyday actions have an impact on God’s creation.
It’s not that science and God are at odds with one another – in fact, it’s science that saves the day at the end of the movie. And science is simply the workings behind God’s creation – God is as much science as He is love. I’d love us to raise up a generation of Christians who love science and use it for good rather than profit, and for justice rather than war.
