Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Netflix)

If you love Wallace and Gromit, you’re going to love “Vengeance Most Fowl.”

The series’ first-ever sequel blends some of the duo’s greatest hits with brand-new hijinks that have the classic Wallace and Gromit feel. There’s a very slow boat chase, murderous mechanical gnomes, and a face off between Gromit and the series’ greatest villain. At the same time, all of it is wrapped in the comforting silliness that fans of the series will find as warm and comforting as a perfectly made cup of tea. It may not be as original as the previous shorts in the series (or the 2005 full-length movie “The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”), but after nearly 20 years without new content it’s great to be back.

When we meet back up with Wallace and his faithful dog Gromit, Wallace is so caught up in his own inventions he’s forgotten how to do anything on his own. He’s even cutting into Gromit’s gardening time, leaving the poor patient Gromit at the end of his rope. Add in an overly helpful mechanical gnome and the return of Feathers McGraw, and our duo has plenty of trouble on their hands (or paws).

The results may not be unforgettable, but they’re an awful lot of fun.

Grade: Three stars

The Six Triple Eight (Netflix)

In another director’s hands, this could have been an incredible movie.

“The Six Triple Eight” follows the story of the 6888th Battalion, the predominantly Black unit of the Women’s Army Corps during WWII. They were given the seemingly impossible job of sorting and delivering 17 million pieces of backlogged mail, a task vital to soldier morale. The logistics of how they managed this in a mere three months are fascinating, and the subject leaves plenty of opportunity for heartwarming scenes of connections made.

But this movie is directed by Tyler Perry, who has built his entire career on broad comedy and soapy melodrama. He wouldn’t know subtlety if it smacked him in the face, and his earnest efforts to pay respect to these women have left details like story and character nuance behind. Even some broad comedy might have improved things, but instead we get an earnest preachiness that does no one any favors.

Still, there are moments that manage to shine through. The logistics scenes are just as interesting as you could hope for, giving plenty of opportunity to show off the women’s cleverness. There are also some genuinely affecting moments about the prejudice the battalion faced, including a great moment just after they get off the ship. Perry spends too much time on the topic, taking space that could have been used to develop the character, but sometimes it hits hard.

Though the script does no one any favors, Kerry Washington is the best of the cast. As Major Charity Adams, she brings a much-needed sense of depth to her character.

If only she could have done the same thing to the rest of the movie.

Grade: Two stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Utah Film Critics Association. Find her on Twitter at @wardellwriter or drop her a line at [email protected].

Credit for photo ©Aardman Animations