"A Matter Of Loaf And Death" sees Aardman's most famous duo (sorry, Morph and Chas) in their first adventure since the big screen outing Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. While this new tale shows some of the lessons learned from that film, it's a fittingly more quiet affair. As has become the norm since "A Close Shave", the pair are fronting a new company: the bakers 'Top Bun', complete with a full windmill and granary modified onto their home. It's whilst making a daily delivery that they have a chance encounter with Piella Bakewell, whom Wallace recognizes as the former 'Bake-O-Lite' bread mascot girl. As Wallace and Piella begin a whirlwind romance, the ever-vigilant Gromit has suspicions. Could this woman be the baker-bludgeoning 'cereal killer' the headlines are talking about?
 Wallace & Gromit hold a special place in my heart. Much like Sonic the Hedgehog, their films make up a key part of my childhood nostalgia, and so I'm always eager to see a new adventure starring them. A Matter Of Loaf And Death retains the quality we've come to expect from Nick Park and company, though I'm not sure it's their strongest outing. The production values are top notch, with a cinematic feel which shows how well the makers have ascended the learning curve. There are some beautifully handled sequences to marvel at, especially when compared to the low budget "A Grand Day Out."
Even more importantly, the characters, jokes and premise all hold up well. There are several laugh out loud moments, many coming from the always talented Peter Sallis as Wallace. Joining him is Sally Lindsay as Piella. Lindsay will probably be unknown to international readers, but is famous in the UK for her role in the popular northern soap-opera Coronation Street (much like Anne Reid, who played Wendolene Ramsbottom). Complementing these vocal performances are Gromit and Piella's pet poodle, Fluffles. Both characters are brought to life by expertly planned facial expressions and body language. Park himself states that his key concern with such characters is to make them feel as if the emotion is coming from within them, and this is something I feel the Aardman animators excel at. Gromit can say more with a raised eyebrow than most scriptwriters can with a lengthy monologue.
 The only negative thing I can mention is a lack of layers to the mystery. This angle really became connected to the series only with "The Wrong Trousers", I'd say it's been there since the start, and the series has become quite adept at building up a mystery that keeps you guessing. That seems to be missing from this story. While there is some decent suspense and well handled misleads, I think it's far too obvious what is going on and who the murderer is. It's especially noticeable after Were-Rabbit did a great job at concealing its secrets, which makes me suspect the weaknesses here are due to the shorter, half-hour running time of this adventure. But as said, they still put in clear effort, and I don't think anyone expects Agatha Christie from Aardman.
In contrast to the disappointing releases of sibling series Shaun the Sheep, this film gets some decent extras. The first of these is a full-length audio commentary by Nick Park and editor David McCormick. They discuss the various animation techniques and cinematic homages that went into the film, as well as providing some little known trivia and even highlighting certain continuity errors. It's a genuinely warm effort that provides some real insight into the film on various levels. Following this is 'How They Donut', a twenty minute long making-of featurette. This thankfully complements the commentary, providing fresh details on animating, storyboarding and prop construction. There's even a fitting put down delivered to more soulless, merchandise-driven animated properties.
 The remaining extras aren't that strong: picture gallery slideshow of screenshots over the Wallace & Gromit theme tune and 'When Wallace Met Harvey'. The latter is a five minute piece which covers the characters appearing in advertising to announce the opening of a Bristol-based Harvey Nicholls department store. It's a fairly dry piece, full of corporate talking heads using buzzwords to describe the campaign and eventually trailing into full blown promotion of the chain itself. Thankfully, Nick Park also appears and manages to keep the thing grounded. There's also a DVD-ROM PC demo of a tie-in computer game, but I was unable to get the installer to work on my system and so can't comment. Finally, there are trailers for the spin-off show Shaun the Sheep and its pre-school spin-off, Timmy Time.
"A Matter Of Loaf And Death" is a fine appearance for Wallace & Gromit. The wait in between films inevitably builds expectations, which makes it all the more impressive when Aardman manages to top them. I'd say that's part of the charm: rather than just crank out a full season of lackluster television episodes, Park and Bob Baker always wait until they have a strong, witty, emotional story idea and work from there. Now that's using your loaf.
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