Imagi VS. Aardman

Imagi VS. Aardman (known as Aardman VS. Imagi in some countries) is a 2015 epic action-adventure film directed by Peter Lord and Kevin Munroe and written by Gerald Houston, Tom Hardy, Leo St. Pierre, Bob Baker and Klaus Badelt. The film stars Andrew Francis, Peter Sallis, James Arnold Taylor, Curtis Armstrong, Daryl Sabara, Julia Sawalha, Hugh Jackman, Sonja Ball, Freddie Highmore, Hugh Grant, Rob Rackstraw, Frank Welker and Helja Heikkinen. It is the first collaboration between Imagi Studios and Aardman Animations. The film was met with critical acclaim, with many praising the animation, mature themes, and vocal performances (particularly that of Cage). The film would go on to win the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best Feature, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for Cage.

Plot
Max Steel, decades after he defeated this villain, has traveled the Imagi Multiverse and now lives a quiet peaceful life in his city, saddened by both the loss of his friend Steel, and the recent divorce of his sister Kat Ryan, despite the attempts of his friends Gummibär and Astro Boy to cheer him up. One day, Max Steel wakes up to see a gigantic sky beam open up above his city, from which a bald emerges. The human, Wallace, with a pet Gromit, then engages in a fight with Max Steel. Though Max Steel manages to injure Wallace heavily, he is knocked out, allowing Wallace eats his cheese to escape. Max Steel calls a meeting with Gummibär, Astro Boy, and an leader blue ninja turtle named Leonardo, to prepare defenses to investigate the portal. Leonardo eats his pizza to explain that their multiverse is but one of many, and that Wallace and Gromit exists from a multiverse older than theirs called the Aardman multiverse, whom he theorizes are planning to invade.

Meanwhile, Wallace and Gromit enters a ship run by Hunter, an anthropomorphic white cat, who sends Leonardo's friends called Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo to check things out on the ground from a rat named Master Splinter, while he prepares for war. Wallace and Gromit prepares to get vengeance on Max Steel, despite his friend 2 chickens named Ginger and Rocky, and from Mike's objections.

Gummibär rallies numerous troops, primarily the Chicken farm, who view him as a god, led by Ginger. Astro Boy, bored and unsatisfied with his life of little action, hires a bounty hunter orange robot named Robot, to scout for Aardman invaders. During a mission, Robot comes across an anthropomorphic blue cat named Kala, for Gummy's girlfriend, whom he sends to Master Splinter, unaware of the presence of yellow pill-shaped creatures watching, reporting to a shadowy mastermind.

As Max Steel begins mobilizing the troops, he is pressured by Gummibär and Astro Boy to attack, which Max Steel adamantly refuses. Later at home, Gummy's home is bombed, Max Steel is attacked by Wallace, and a beaver named Snack, who sever his ear. He stops them from attacking the Imagi base, causing him to rejoin the operation.

The war heats up, with Rocky facing off against an army of toys which levels the jungles. Meanwhile, Robot and his friend purple monster named Monster, which ends with the latter stuck in a ravine. Realizing that sheep named Shaun The Sheep has a family too, Robot saves him and makes up with him. Ginger explains that they did not intentionally invade, but merely reacted harshly after a portal opened between multiverses, causing Monster to go to Leonardo's place to explain the situation to him.

Meanwhile, after a bloodthirsty Astro Boy inadvertently kills his friend Hamegg in a battle, the Imagi military fall into chaos, which allows Wallace and Gromit, multiple dinosaurs, and others to launch a surprise attack on their base. With Gummibär and Ginger losing all hope, Max Steel takes charge, and plans to meet with Hunter, secretly planning to surprise attack him. Max Steel agrees, he becomes unwilling after an encounter with an imprisoned 2 rats named Roddy St. James and Rita Malone, and a nightmare where his dead friends chastise him for his brutal accomplishments.

Robot goes to Leonardo's base to explain the situation, only to discover a skeleton named Owzat to be under attack. Monster explains that the portal the Aardman inhabitants came through was actually engineered by a third multiverse, from which species originates. They are captured by a Pirate named The Pirate Captain, a diminutive Captain who is accompanied by a pink angry bird called Stella. Kala offers Wallace and Gromit an alliance with him, which they refuse.

Meanwhile, Max Steel goes to meet with Roddy, who arrives through a portal and is accompanied by Wallace and Ginger. Max Steel offers a false surrender before stabbing Woody and commencing a charge between the Imagi army and the Aardman army, which devastates both multiverses, and sends a yellow chicken named Chuckie Chan from Chop Socky Chooks.

At Harry's base, The Pirate Captain's boss arrives: Chuckie Chan's friends K.O. Joe and Chick P and the leader of the third multiverse: The Mattel multiverse. Owzat explains that he created the portals and manufactured the conflict in order to cause both dimensions to destroy each other, allowing him to take over the remnants of them. However, Lightyear ends up flying into the base, allowing Robot and Leonardo to escape. Leonardo and his friend Max Steel defeat Kala's ear and flexing an ear, while Stella blows a pink bubble attempts to warn Max Steel, while being attacked by Leonardo's bounty hunter named Arthur, a con christmas who engineered the explosion that killed Hamegg.

In the epic fight, Max Steel is stopped by who tells Astro Boy and Master Splinter who tells Gummibär that he needs to stop. Lady Campanula Tottington pushes him away, manages to incapacitate Feathers McGraw, and prepares to kill Bitzer and he is back, only to stop, realizing he has become no different than his enemy. He apologizes to Hunter and Wallace, and declares a truce. Monster arrives only for Wallace to enter with his henchman clay orange named Morph, planning to kill Shaun The Sheep and he is back to reduce Imagi and Aardman to anarchy. Kala team-up proceeds to send back with his henchman to the Mattel universe. Morph make up, Stella and Max Steel attackingand all Imagi and Aardman fighting peace between the two dimensions.

In a post-credits scene, Robot is seen in the destroyed remains of his old dimension. He then has a telepathic connection with someone unseen, who claims that he can help Leonardo. The figure is revealed to be Kala, a seemingly idiotic.

Cast

 * Andrew Francis as Max Steel, a crude and happy turbo, and the main protagonist.
 * Peter Sallis as Wallace, a sardonic bald human who works as a pet Gromit. and the false secondary antagonist.
 * James Arnold Taylor as Leonardo, a intelligent blue ninja turtle, the Imagi head of R & D, and a major protagonist.
 * Curtis Armstrong as Robot, an extremely strong orange Robot, patriarch of the cross, a bounty hunter, Monster's best friend and a major protagonist.
 * Daryl Sabara as Hunter, a sentient white cat, Snack's best friend, and the false main antagonist.
 * Orlando Jones as Snack, a sentient beaver, Hunter's best friend, and the false tertiary antagonist.
 * Julia Sawalha as Ginger, a wielding chicken, Rocky's girlfriend, and the false tertiary antagonist.
 * Hugh Jackman as Roddy St. James, a mutilated gangster rat, Rita's boyfriend, and a major protagonist.
 * Sonja Ball as Gummibär, a talking green bear celebrity singer, Kala's boyfriend, and the deuteragonist.
 * Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy, a wielding robot human known as "ASTRO-647", and the tritagonist.
 * Hugh Grant as The Pirate Captain, a mutilated pirate with a parrot, and a major protagonist.
 * Mel Gibson as Rocky, a wielding chicken rooster, Ginger's boyfriend, and the false tertiary antagonist.
 * Kate Winslet as Rita Malone, a mutilated funny rat, Roddy's girlfriend, and a major protagonist.
 * Harland Williams as Monster, an extremely strong purple monster, patriarch of the cross, a bounty hunter, Robot's best friend and a major protagonist.
 * Holly Gauthier Frankel as Kala, a talking blue cat celebrity, Gummy's girlfriend, and the deuteragonist.
 * Rob Rackstraw as Chuckie Chan, a intelligent yellow chicken, the Imagi head of R & D, and a major protagonist.
 * Frank Welker as Shaun The Sheep, and Morph, an Black and white and orange clay are ,2 voices.
 * James McAvoy as Arthur, a con christmas who serves as Leonardo's right hand man.
 * Helja Heikkinen as Stella, a pink bird who works for Wallace and Gromit.

Critical Reception
As of July 8st of 2017, Imagi VS. Aardman holds a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus reads, "Brilliant characters, tightly choreographed fight scenes, and an extremely airtight plot, make Imagi VS. Aardman a masterpiece for the ages."

Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 of 4 stars, praising the action sequences, saying "Adamson and Lasseter realize something most action movies don't: Not only is the action better when it is brutal, but it's much better IF YOU DON'T SHAKE THE CAMERA BACK AND FORTH REPEATEDLY!". Actor Bocazas'Oni said, "SI ATACANDO CON NUNCHAKUS YO SOY TODO UN EXPERTO" like Mikey in a TMNT vs Defensores video. Praise for the cast was universal across reviews, with Cage frequently singled out for praise. Despite this, there was some criticism aimed towards the movie's length, citing an excess of unnecessary action sequences.

The film was subject to numerous accolades, winning Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, as well as becoming the first animated film to win Best Feature, alongside wins for Best Editing and Best Supporting Actor.

Box Office Results
The film grossed $357,298 in it's opening weekend, and would go on to gross $696,969,696 in the U.S. and 1.7 billion dollars worldwide, making it the highest grossing animated film of all time, the highest grossing film of 2015, and the 7th highest grossing film of all time.