The Big Brothers Program goes universal! And when I say “universal,” I mean L’il Orphan Alien has got a friend in another star-system. So what if the Big Brother is furry, doesn’t talk much, and is, perhaps, a little sheepish. You don’t look a gift lamb in the muzzle.
This is the simple E.T.-inspired plot of Farmageddon. (Don’t be put off by the portmanteaux; there’s about as much armageddon here as you’ll find in an episode of “Teletubbies.”) Basically, a juvenile alien with a fairly ovine-looking silhouette is stranded in English farm country with Shaun the Sheep and his band of merry monochromes; the latter take it upon themselves to curtail their standard foolishness and help a brother out. The standard foolishness can take the form of ultimate frisbee, pizza, and Evel Knieval-like stunts; are these sheep or 12-year-old boys?
Meanwhile, their warden, a sheepdog with no sense of humor, takes it upon himself to help the sheep act more like … sheep. If he does his job well enough, the farmer can win his prize, a state-of-the-art Wheatchopper 5000. Dream big, unnamed farmer, dream big.
So how do you help out your new alien pal? You know this one; he’s gotta phone home. You want to say this film rips off E.T. … and it does. But oh so lovingly. And it doesn’t stop there. By the time Doctor Who showed up for no apparent reason, this had become my favorite children’s film in the past several months (admittedly, I saw this before Onward).
Said it before, I’ll say it again: Baa-adorable. If you can’t find something to smile about watching A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, it’s possible the sickness has taken hold permanently. Save yourself while you can. Actually, assuming Shaun or his kin even say “Baa” is a big ask. It’s not like the film is silent, but it distinctly lacks for words, settling instead for grunts and dings and the occasional bleat. One of the measures of quality filmmaking is the ability to get your point across without dialogue, and as far as that goes, Farmageddon is aces.
It’s been a while since I truly enjoyed an Aardman Studios production. My last true love affair with Aardman came over Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. That was in 2005. Since, I’ve found their stuff mildly amusing, but never more. Even Shaun the Sheep I’ve found amiable but rarely eye-popping. This one is better, much better. Sit and enjoy this with your young child, or your not-so-young child. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is a pretty-good way to ride out a portion of our Corona lock down.
A crisis we should all take head on
Opiates make all faces redden
Hold up, what’s the biz?
That’s not what this is?
Sorry, I’m thinking of “Pharmageddon”
Rated G, 86 Minutes
Director: Will Becher, Richard Phelan
Writer: Jon Brown, Nick Park
Genre: Amusing your children, and then their parents
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People with soft spots for aliens, sheep
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Xenophobes
