A lone sheep, later named Shaun, escapes from a sheep rustling plot and hides in the home of eccentric inventor Wallace and his long-suffering dog/best pal Gromit. A silent but deadly canine down at the wool shop appears to be the mastermind behind the plot and frames Gromit for the rustling scam. With a little help from Shaun, Wallace must rescue Gromit and catch the real crooks.

There are more laughs and jokes in this half-hour short than most feature-length comedies manage in their entire running time. Nearly every frame has some kind of wit or imagination. The world of Wallace and Gromit, much like the stop-motion world of Postman Pat, is an incongruous mix of post-war Northern countryside crossed with sci-fi and a touch of horror. The horror themes would be explored in greater depth with Curse of the Were-Rabbit but it's handled with more care and sly invention here than in most slasher sequels.

A fun time. Catch it on its inevitable Xmas Day screening.

This is the third Wallace & Gromit short. As you'd expect, the quality of the character design is greatly improved from the first Wallace & Gromit short. Instead of the claymation, soft plastic figures that are poseable are used instead. Additionally, the sets are much more complex and detailed. Now this isn't to say that the stuff in the earlier films is bad--far from it. It's just that with each successive project, the artistry improves.

The only complaint I have about this delightful film, and it's a minor one, is that by this third short, the story has become a lot more fanciful and action-packed. In this film, less time is spent being laid-back and gentle (as well as very English) and Gromit even gets to fight against a cyborg dog! But, in spite of this, the film still works very well. Additionally, if you watch this film and the later full-length movie, WALLACE & GROMIT AND THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, you'll see that there are some similarities in the stories. The dog is pretty similar as is his owner to the lady in the full-length film. Again, these really aren't complaints as much as observations.

Overall, a wonderful short film and one you can't help but love. It's wonderful and I can certainly understand why it, too, won an Oscar for Best Animated Short (like its predecessor).

A CLOSE SHAVE was, for me, the first time I was disappointed by the Wallace and Gromit series. Initially I thought A GRAND DAY OUT was interesting but flawed, while THE WRONG TROUSERS was a piece of perfection that marked the flawless highlight of the series. By contrast, A CLOSE SHAVE feels half-baked and rushed out, keen to emulate rather than innovate.

Remember how ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES fell to bits with the introduction of the wives and girlfriends and was much better when it was just Del Boy, Rodney, and Grandad? That's the case here. The addition of the friendly sheep and Wendolene is a step too far and takes the charm away from the original characters. Wallace is a cliché here and Gromit is just bland. As for the plot, it feels both muddled and predictable, and far too influenced by Hollywood instead of retaining the British angle. The whole TERMINATOR-derived climax just feels like a cheat instead of anything remotely entertaining.