“Shaun the Sheep” is clever silent comedy

The spirit of silent film comedy luminaries like Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd may be flickering these days. Contemporary comedic films lean on dialogue far more than visual humor or slapstick. That spirit isn’t quite dead yet. It drives the humor of “Shaun the Sheep,” a comedy so clever you almost want to pat it on the head and give it a cookie.

Spun off from an early “Wallace and Gromit” short called “A Close Shave,” “Shaun the Sheep” stars that titular hero, a sheep who’s bored to tears with tediousness of everyday life on the farm. He hatches a plot to get The Farmer out of the way so he and his fellow sheep can take a day off. That plan backfires pretty spectacularly, sending the whole crew on an adventure in the big city.

While in the big city, Shaun must locate The Farmer while ducking Trumper, a particularly determined (and somewhat cruel) animal control officer. Finding The Farmer and getting him home proves to be quite the task, fraught with peril. And, of course, filled with plenty of jokes.

”Shaun the Sheep” is the second movie of the summer featuring characters who don’t speak a lot, the other being “Minions.” But “Minions” benefitted from a number of side characters who did speak a bit and helped to fill in what’s going on.

“Shaun” features no dialogue whatsoever. The characters communicate with various grunts, groans and other vocalizations. But it works, thanks to excellent animation of characters, with their faces always telling you exactly what’s on their minds.

That’s the best thing about “Shaun”: the visual humor. We live in a cinematic era where comedies are funny because characters say funny things. The jokes in “Shaun” mostly come from things you see. It’s a lost art, but the animators are able to get laughs with slapstick and sight gags. It actually makes you work a little harder, but it’s rewarding when you get it and the laughs come.

”Shaun the Sheep” is a fun little romp you and your kids will enjoy. It has a good mix of amusing characters, funny visual gags, and laugh-filled action scenes. It pulls all this off without the benefit of dialogue, and never once do you feel like shouting, “USE YOUR WORDS!” Somewhere, the ghosts of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are smiling.

3 1/2 Indy Fedoras out of 5

MPAA Rating: PG