Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT — *** 1/2 — Clay-animated feature starring the voices of Peter Sallis, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter and others; rated G (vulgarity, violence, mild profanity, brief partial nudity); see Page W2 for theaters.

There's more cleverness, ingenuity and creativity displayed in the first five minutes of the animated comedy "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" than there has been in most of this year's live-action features combined.

In fact, the film contains so many sight gags, outrageous puns and jokes — some broad, some subtle and many of the blink-and-you'll-miss-them variety — that it's almost too joke-heavy for its own good. (Be advised, however, that it is also marred slightly by some surprisingly suggestive humor that is definitely not appropriate for a G-rated film.)

This marks a welcome return for the clay-animate man-and-dog duo, which has starred in three classic shorts, including 1995's Oscar-winning "A Close Shave."

Wallace is the rather-dim, cheese-loving inventor, while Gromit is his mute canine companion, and this spoof of old British horror movies finds them operating a pest-control business that employs "humane" means of capturing and disposing of all kinds of varmints — including the hordes of rabbits that have been infesting their neighbors' vegetable gardens.

But their basement is now filled with the ravenous bunnies they've nabbed, which are eating them out of house and home. So Wallace (voiced by veteran British actor Peter Sallis) devises a brain-washing device that is supposed to curb their vegetarian appetites.

That scheme backfires when one of them evidently turns into the titular were-rabbit, an enormous, furry monstrosity that goes on a destructive, vegetable-consuming rampage. Meanwhile, Wallace is trying desperately to impress their latest client, the wealthy Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) — but Gromit discovers evidence to suggest that Wallace himself is a Jekyll and Hyde, occasionally turning into the monstrous hare.

Despite the few aforementioned questionable moments, audiences of all ages will find much to savor here. Kudos to co-screenwriter/co-director Nick Park, the creator of Wallace and Gromit, for another winning effort. And give credit to the game voice cast, which includes Ralph Fiennes, who's suitable oily as Wallace's opportunistic romantic rival.

The film is preceded by an animated short, "The Christmas Caper," which stars the penguin characters that were the best part of this summer's animated hit "Madagascar." It's pretty amusing and is certainly more focused, storywise, than their earlier feature.

"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" is rated G, though it does contain some suggestive references and flatulence humor, violence (mostly slapstick in nature), scattered use of some creative but mild profanity and animated brief partial male nudity (done for laughs). Total running time: 95 minutes ("Were-Rabbit," 85 minutes; "The Christmas Caper," 10 minutes).

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com