EARLY MAN

They’re the animation studio that gave us ‘Wallace and Gromit’, ‘Shaun the Sheep’ and ‘Chicken Run’. They may not have the dominating presence of Disney, Pixar, Blue Sky or Illumination, but Aardman have been a well-loved staple in childhood homes for generations. But it turns out love doesn’t make you infallible. Each and every studio has its dark spot, and it appears that Aardman has finally reached theirs.

‘Early Man’ tells the tale of Dug (Eddie Redmayne, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’) who lives peacefully in a valley he shares with his small tribe. Then the Bronze Age hits and the French, led by Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston, the ‘Avengers’ franchise) with all their machines, brute force and soccer come storming in to usurp the tribe's territory. Banished to the “bad lands”, Dug challenges Lord Nooth’s champion soccer team to a match - winner takes the valley - but without knowing how to play soccer, what it even is and having never seen a ball before, this is going to be quite the challenge. Luckily Dug runs into Goona (Maisie Williams, TV's ‘Game of Thrones’), a girl who dreams of playing on the sacred soccer pitch, who volunteers to help the tribe.