If it were for sheer inventiveness and style, 'Humdrum' would deserve four stars. The characters in this Aardman short are shadows. And they're bored. More on that later. The thing is, are these shadows rendered in 2D or 3D, or are they actual shadows of stop-motion objects? Apparently the latter. Now, that is pretty off the show. But when they get so bored that they agree to play shadow puppets, and the shadows cast are then the shadows of the shadows cast by... no, by brain hurts.

The two characters in 'Humdrum' are flatmates in a suburban house, and really that's all there is to it. It's just a situation with some dialogue, and some repurcussions that will mess with your head a bit. And there's also a mechanical dog that comes around trying to sell insurance or something.

Where 'Humdrum' is let down somewhat is in the actual script. It's adequate, but it's not inspired. Funny, but not hilarious. So this remains a strong effort from Aardman - very strong on technique, but not quite a classic.