A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

As a family we couldn't wait to see this. Our first watch of Shaun was the movie, which was really brilliant. And the series' is 90% fab. But this was a real disappointment. Lazy jokes some of which are rehashed from the series. Apart from the Caveman/Football one, Aardman rarely hit below 8/10, this is a rare one.

Directed by Will Becher & Richard Phelan, the slapstick Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon with an almost silent script, baa bleats, grunts and squeaks, gives Aardman the opportunity to riff classic sci-fi greats. When a small alien with magical powers crash lands on Earth, she causes a stir and then hitches a lift on a pizza delivery bike to Mossy Bottom Farm. Here Shaun the sheep has ordered the pizzas for his hungry flock. Fed up with the petty rules inflicted on them by Bitzer the sheep dog. Shaun meeting cute Lu-La is Spielberg's ET remodelled in the inevitable Aardman style. The sets were terrific and there was even a thumb print on Lu-La which was very sweet. Amazing to think Aardman started with their Creature Comforts British Gas advert. Those snails are everywhere. And now we're stop-motion filming a herd of sheep with their sheep dog and an alien who desperately wants to call home. Plus a farmer who might just be creating Mossy Bottom's own Fyre Festival with his Farmagedden UFO theme park. Hoping to make the money to buy his new combine harvester. Good luck there. Such a jolly film but I enjoyed it more for the references to movies some of the kids in the audience have probably never seen. Of course there was The Minions, Wall-E/K9 and Eva, (my) Doctor Who, Jaws, Close Encounters tagged in the film poster, complete with notes. And the government UFO hunters as well as being minions, play the Men-In-Black and there's even a Paul reference with Agent Red. Catch her lipstick slash. And look out for Signs in the fields, 2001 toast and the space station, plus tons more I missed. But the sci-fi riffs are matched by the visual gags. Pigs flying and supermarket shopping with a hungry alien, and a flying saucer pizza were all a hoot that the kids enjoyed. I didn't see the original Shaun the Sheep but Farmageddon is a charming pick and mix bag of gags for the whole family.

A film that can be enjoyed by children & adults. Loads of things to spot during the film that link to other sci-fi films. We've watched it three times now and discover things still.

Whilst OK, it's nowhere near as funny as the first Shaun movie. I don't know what's missing, but some of the magic just isn't there, perhaps the storylone was a bit slight for its running time . I have to admit to looking at the screen on the player to see how much of it was left after about half an hour.