A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2020)

The beloved characters of Aardman Animations’ Wallace and Gromit have captured the hearts of its audiences for years, and it’s no different with their mischievous Shaun the Sheep. And who doesn’t love a good stop-motion animated adventure? That’s right – our lovable flock are back in a brand-new sci-fi adventure that delves deeper into their lives in A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. With the same whimsical humor and stunning hand-crafted animation we’ve come to expect from Aardman, it’s another classic that fans are shear to love.

In the town of Mossingham, a local farmer and his dog witness a UFO crashing into the woods and flee when they see an alien walk out. Meanwhile, back on the farm, Shaun and his crew get in trouble as they try to have a barbecue in their barn. Since Blitzer steals their only means for eating actual human food, Shaun sneaks into the house and orders pizza. But when the pizza arrives, the boxes are all empty. Turns out, the alien snuck into the delivery man’s pouch and ate them all.

Shaun discovers the alien, Lu-La, hiding in the barn and the two become fast friends. Lu-La can do exact impersonations of voices she hears and has telekinetic powers. As the two become acquainted, Shaun begins to realize that Lu-La is merely a child on her home planet, and that she accidentally winded up on Earth after she was playing around in her parents’ spaceship. To top it off, she can’t remember where she left her spaceship.

Shaun wasn’t the only one to discover Lu-La’s presence – there’s a dangerous organization hunting aliens down, led by the notorious Agent Red. As the two mischief-makers do their best to evade the organization’s capture, hilarity and suspense keep us on the edge of our seats.

Touching on themes of media sensationalism and how it benefits a capitalist mentality, for better or worse, Farmageddon actually has some things to say. But it’s not always so black and white. We also get a better understanding of our villain and what drives her hate – probably an obligatory motive for audiences in this current age of cinematic villain-empathy we’re living in.

The perennially relaxed exposition in A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon makes it easy to check out at times, but the story is ramped up to lock us in early on. Plus, there’s tons of lovable animated sheep and barnyard animals, which are pretty irresistible on their own. Even though we don’t necessarily need it, the film gives us an abridged introduction to our characters and shows us their dynamics without resorting to extended montages. Everything about this latest Shaun the Sheep production is exactly what you’d expect and want from a movie of this beloved series, and that’s enough for an easy recommendation.