Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005): B+

Nick Park’s cheese-munching inventor Wallace and his mute pooch sidekick Gromit finally get the feature-length treatment in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, a cheeky homage to classic Universal monster movies in which the claymation, stop-motion-animated heroes are forced to stop a mutant vege-eating bunny. Having found success with their "Anti-Pesto" pest control business, the titular duo’s orderly lives are thrust into farcical chaos after their hometown becomes terrorized by a supernatural Were-Rabbit, a situation which prompts big-lipped Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) – much to her gun-loving suitor Victor Quartermaine’s (Ralph Fiennes) chagrin – to hire Wallace to peacefully capture the creature. Humanistic and droll, Park’s film mixes its childish silliness with adult wittiness, and its abundant horror film references (including nods to The Fly, King Kong, and Frankenstein) thankfully never threaten to overwhelm the narrative’s celebration of compassion, camaraderie and tolerance. Even more satisfying, however, is the way Wallace and Gromit’s playful goofiness – such as positing a magazine about “Professional Nun Wrestling” or having the carrot-chomping Were-Rabbit utter to Gromit, in Bugs Bunny fashion, “What’s up, Dog?” – is enhanced by the tender sweetness of its central human-canine relationship.