It’s been ten years since Wallace and Gromit last ventured in front of a camera, and then only for television. This, their first feature-length story, is as cracking as expectant fans had hoped. Formerly titled The Great Vegetable Plot, animator Nick Park’s eccentric, cheese-loving inventor and his erstwhile dog are up to their ears in rabbits. It’s the eve of a giant vegetable show and Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter) wants to rid the town of rogue bunnies. Armed with a BunVac6000, the lads from Anti-Pesto have a grand day out until a close shave with a monstrous four metre rabbit spoils their salad. As the vicar warns, not all is as it seems and Gromit is soon defending himself, Wallace and the bunny from a bounty hunter with a big wig and a bigger gun.

In a world of digital trickery, it’s a delight to see this Academy Award winning director revelling in the old-fashioned arts. Back with fond friends, Park somehow manages to improve on his sublime Chicken Run with a truly mesmerising production. His masterful sense of comic timing doesn’t miss a beat or an opportunity for a pun – the film endlessly crackles with daft jokes (Gromit’s diploma from Dogwarts) and ribald moments that would make Benny Hill blanch (Wallace is invited to see Totty’s secret garden). Bright, enthusiastic design is rife with riffs and pop references including a movie defining interpretation of King Kong. Gromit’s flight of intervention is pure brilliance. Without question, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a ready-made masterpiece.

// COLIN FRASER