“Shaun the Sheep Movie”: Aardman’s latest is a shear pleasure

Shaun-The-Sheep-Movie

“Shaun the Sheep” opens Wednesday at Point, Palace and Star Cinema. PG, 1:24, three stars out of four.

My foolproof way to tell if my kids really liked a movie or not is whether they quote lines from the movie afterwards. I didn’t hear a peep out of them about “Minions,” while I’ll heard “That’s one messed-up looking dog” on repeat for days after “Ant-Man.”

But my theory grinds to a halt with the British studio Aardman Animation’s “Shaun the Sheep Movie,” as there are no lines to quote. There is not a line of dialogue in this 84-minute film, just bleats, grunts, growls, sighs, and the occasionally wordless singing. Which means the folks at Aardman have to be as clever at telling their story as they are at showing it via their trademark stop-motion animation.

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