Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon is a Brilliant Sci-Fi Silent Comedy

Since the days of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, silent comedy is rarely seen these days. It flourished for a time in animation, serving as the template to some of the best cartoons like Tom & Jerry and The Pink Panther. In recent years, Britain has mastered the genre not once but twice with Mr. Bean and Shaun the Sheep. With six seasons and a feature film, Shaun is Aardman's most successful franchise next to Wallace & Gromit, and the first Aardman sequel.

The small town of Mossingham catches alien fever after reports of a UFO sighting, but on Mossy Bottom Farm it's just another day for the farmer's dog Bitzer (John Sparkes) dealing with the mishaps of Shaun (Justin Fletcher) and the rest of the funny flock. It isn't long before Shaun has a close encounter of the adorable kind with Lu-La (Amalia Vitale), a cute alien who crash-landed on Earth and strikes a quick friendship with the sheep. Before you can say Phone Home, Lu-La's presence grabs the attention of the Ministry of Alien Detection (M.A.D.) and its leader Agent Red (Kate Harbour).

Farmageddon was supposed to be released in the U.S. back in 2019 but due to the recent films of Aardman bombing in the U.S., it was sent to Netflix the following year. Had it premiered on its original date, it would have made my list of best Films from 2019 right in the top five because Farmageddon is one of the funniest comedies that I've ever seen.

More than often you hear how movies based on TV shows not doing well but Shaun the Sheep is one of those rare exceptions where its just as good. It's not a reboot like Get Smart or 21 Jump Street, adult fare like The Simpsons or South Park, an origin story like The Powerpuff Girls Movie, or stand-alone like Batman Mask of the Phantasm.

The movie feels exactly like the TV show where the stakes are higher, makes use of its bigger budget, earns its longer run-time without feeling like an extended episode or TV special. My Little Pony and Teen Titans Go! follow this formula in their big-screen iterations but Shaun the Sheep takes it further. The characters retain their personalities from the cheeky but lovable Shaun and the no-nonsense but caring Bitzer, nothing feels forced or out-of-character even in the face of something bigger than they have ever faced. In keeping with the spirit of the show there is no dialogue outside of the usual grunts, and animal sounds, relying on pure slapstick, pratfalls, visual gags, character reactions and a clever script on telling its story. Like The Peanuts Movie, I find it more impressive when a movie is able to maintain a G rating in an age where all family and children's entertainment is mostly PG. The little adult humor is aimed for sci-fans who will smile at the many Easter eggs and references to some familiar content from a blue police box to an eerie theme song as well as some callbacks to Aardman's previous work.

Rocky's been losing weight hasn't he? 

It's one of the things I love about Aardman who go above and beyond in terms of creativity rivaling Studio Ghibli and Pixar on not trying to be modern or formulaic and instead go out to make fantastically unique films for all ages. If this movie about a sheep going into outer space with an alien friend doesn't at least make you grin, I don't know what will.

Final Verdict: A+