Mel Gibson’s Best Movie Is Streaming Right Now
Mel Gibson has played the action tough guy in many of his most iconic films, but his absolute best performance is currently stereaming right now.
Mel Gibson has held many iconic roles in his long-standing career. He was the star of the action franchise, Lethal Weapon. He battled for independence in both Braveheart and The Patriot. He has even tackled the romantic comedy genre with What Women Want. However, his absolute best film is streaming right now. It is a film that saw the man use the prowess of his voice, but not his body. That film is Chicken Run, which is now streaming on Peacock. Yeah, we laughed at that bird pun too.
Chicken Run was released in 2000. The stop-motion animated film remains the highest-grossing animated film in that category, after it achieved $227 million in worldwide box office numbers. The film still holds an astounding 97% “certified fresh” critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a less than impressive 67% audience rating. Still, the film was a critical and commercial success. It comes from a long list of animated features from Aardman Studios, which was famously put together in Bristol, England back in the 1970s. They famously created Wallace and Gromit, which are two characters who hold the 2nd biggest stop-motion earner in history. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit made $197 million in worldwide box office numbers. Mel Gibson sure knows how to make some blockbuster films. Rather, he knows how to appear in them.
Chicken Run follows a flock of chickens that live in a prisoner-type camp that is run by the evil Mrs. Tweedy and her oafish husband, Mr. Tweedy. The Tweedy’s eat chickens that can no longer hatch eggs. The profits of their chicken farm are starting to dip, so Mrs. Tweedy thinks of a plan to use automated machines to turn the chickens into chicken pot pies. The leader of the chickens is Ginger (Julia Sawalha), who notices a rooster named Rocky Rhodes (Mel Gibson) crashing into the farm. The chickens bandage his arm and hide him away from the Tweedy’s. They hatch a plan to have Rocky teach them how to fly so that they do not end up being pot pies. While Mrs. Tweedy builds her chicken pot pie machine, the chickens attempt to fly. What makes it more hilarious is the less than intelligent Mr. Tweedy believes the chickens are sentient and are plotting, but Mrs. Tweedy dismisses it. Without ruining the rest of the film, you can go watch it right now on Peacock.
Chicken Run became one of the first instances of a stop-motion film achieving such huge success. Granted, films like The Nightmare Before Christmas achieved huge success in the 1990s, but not as much as Chicken Run did. Chicken Run took on a life of its own and showed that the Aardman Studios style was still very welcomed by audiences. The same can be said for the previously mentioned Wallace and Gromit feature. Although Chicken Run had come out in 2000, and it’s been nearly 23 years, there is going to be a sequel coming out in 2023. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget will release on Netflix and stars Zachary Levi, Thandiwe Newton, David Bradley, Romesh Ranganathan, and Daniel Mays. They are said to be replacing Mel Gibson, Julia Sawalha, Benjamin Withrow, Timothy Spall, and Phil Daniels.
Chicken Run is certainly a different style of film than most people are used to, as stop-motion animation is always a bit odd to look at, especially the Aardman Studios style. Still, the film was a massive success in terms of animation, and that could be beacause Mel Gibson was cast in the film. That casting likely helped the international and domestic markets be satisfied. Gibson might be known for his action movie prowess, but he can certainly lead a room by using only his voice. We may never get another Gibson animation quite like this.
Chicken Run is streaming right now on Peacock, and fans can see how Mel Gibson fits into a world that is full of chickens. The unique style and humor brought on by Aardman Studios made this film as successful as it was in theaters and is still beloved to this day. Gibson might be the macho tough guy, but he was once the bravest rooster around. Check the film out and see why it holds the #1 spot of any stop-motion animated feature.
