In the years since Chicken Run’s $200m+ success, Aardman’s subsequent features have been released to diminishing box office returns, this year’s Early Man the first to fail to recoup its budget during its theatrical release. The reason is perhaps because Aardman, and their creator-in-chief Nick Park – who here returns as director after four films under other auspices – have become the victims of their own success. Early Man might ostensibly be about a football match between a team of cavemen and their Bronze Age counterparts, but the backdrop and particulars are no more than the trimmings on yet another story about some wide-mouthed, gap-toothed Plasticine nobody who learns to rise above their lack of station in order to achieve something greater than they could ever have imagined. It’s not that it’s not a story worth telling, and re-telling as often as you can keep it fresh; rather the issue is that Aardman, and Park in particular, keep telling it in much the same way. Once you’ve seen the prehistoric panorama within which Early Man largely takes place – and it is worth seeing – there really isn’t much here you won’t recognise from any number of Park’s previous projects.

There’s a level of professionalism, invention and craftsmanship at Aardman that prevents this from even beginning to approach the level of massive disappointment, however (it is, in truth, just a minor one). The aforementioned sets are sumptuous, the seam of very British comedy that runs through Aardman’s work is very much present, and the story, while predictable, is nevertheless engaging – if especially slight (the film’s content runs to just 75 minutes, the following twelve comprising the credits scroll). Eddie Redmayne and a slightly underused Maisie Williams hit every necessary beat as the principal characters, although it’s the likes of Timothy Spall in the supporting cast who you’ll really care about. And yes, there’s a non-speaking, substitute Gromit spot for Park to voice himself too. But it’s Tom Hiddleston as Lord Nooth, the evil (and French) bronze-obsessed king who wants to set up a mine in the cavemen’s valley, who absolutely steals the film, with a deliciously ripe performance that was patently a joy for the actor to play.

The choice of football as a theme (this is the claymation equivalent of One Million Years B.C. meets Escape to Victory) was obviously designed to appeal to children and general audiences alike, although its European flavour perhaps explains the film’s underperformance in North America, and does give Early Man a very odd balance of elements. There’s not a great deal of actual football, understandably, but the climactic match is handled well.

There’s no doubt whatsoever that if you’ve enjoyed previous Aardman productions you’ll like this one too. But perhaps just slightly less than Shaun the Sheep Movie or Chicken Run. With sequels to both of those films on the horizon, it seems the company are consolidating their successes rather than looking to expand their horizons, which might be a wise move – but is nevertheless a shame.

Extras: audio commentary / seven making-of featurettes

EARLY MAN / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: NICK PARK / SCREENPLAY: MARK BURTON, JAMES HIGGINSON / STARRING: EDDIE REDMAYNE, TOM HIDDLESTON, MAISIE WILLIAMS, TIMOTHY SPALL, MIRIAM MARGOLYES, ROB BRYDON, RICHARD AYOADE, JOHNNY VEGAS, MARK WILLIAMS / RELEASE DATE: MAY 28TH