With a name so obvious you’d expect a colon and subtitle to follow it, “The Angry Birds Movie 2” has officially landed in theatres. Most (Looking at you, Sean Penn) of the star-studded cast from the original film return and a new threat has been introduced, divulging this sequel from the “plot” of the video game the first film was directly based on.
That divulgence, as well as letting an animator’s animator direct, is apparently exactly what this film needed. Not only is this a thorough improvement over the original, but director Thurop Van Orman (“The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack,” “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy”) fills the 95-minute running time with surrealist jokes and completely bonkers physical humor and sight gags.
Thankfully, the plot this time is nowhere near as detailed or drawn out. Screenwriters Jonathon E. Stewart (“Cars 3,” “Smallfoot”), Peter Ackerman (“Ice Age,” “The Americans”) and Eyal Podell (“Cars 3,” “Smallfoot”) waste no time in establishing the reasonings behind the hijinks that cause the plot to move forward. Their script relishes in simple and straight to the point emotional explanations, and that straightforward-ness ends up helping move the film along and prevent things from feeling rundown.
The lessons therein are also surprisingly sweet and well-thought-out. After the first film’s “let’s be immediately suspicious of the visitors from a faraway land” concept was received less than warmly, it’s no wonder the screenwriters decided to break away from the original game’s plot, instead focusing in on a tale of teamwork and diversity, along with some girl power and STEM plot points for good measure.
“Angry Birds 2” keeps things interesting beyond that thanks to a deluge of comical genius from its animation. From Orman’s signature bizarre facial expressions to a lack of seriousness to the general proceedings, there’s a Saturday morning cartoon feeling to the overall product in the best possible way. It’s a silly, jovial experience throughout, helped even further by its vocal talent.
Jason Sudeikis (“Horrible Bosses,” “Saturday Night Live”), Josh Gad (“Frozen,” “Murder on the Orient Express”), Bill Hader (“Sausage Party” “The Skeleton Twins”), Danny McBride (“Eastbound and Down,” “This is the End”) and Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones,” “Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) all reprise their roles from the first film and still deliver solid performances that get laughs throughout the film. However, it’s the additional talent that ends up making the biggest impressions.
Leslie Jones (“Top Five,” “Ghostbusters (2016)”) delivers an energetic and hysterical performance as the film’s villain, Zeta. Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Farewell”) and Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us,” “The Predator”) also appear in smaller roles as the pigs Courtney and Garry, respectively, but both still manage to leave an impression thanks to great dialogue.
Most impressive of all though is Silver, played by Rachel Bloom (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”). Initially, the character seems as though she could easily becoming annoying or a Mary Sue, but it’s as if there was a conscious effort from both Bloom and the writers to avoid this. The results are a genuinely sweet and likeable character who ends up anchoring the film’s emotional arc in a wonderful way.
All of that being said, this still isn’t Shakespeare. There is a lot of suspension of disbelief (even for a movie called “Angry Birds 2”) that has to go on in order to accept the proceedings. Half the time the movie just laughs at physics and logic in general. However, these always seem to be thrown out simply to meet the goal of laughter.
There are some truly inspired comedic sequences throughout the film, and even as the plot gets further and further from the film’s attention, the gorgeous animation and slapstick sensibilities stay firmly intact. Some moments even break the fourth wall in interesting ways, even playing with the subtitles and overlays of the film itself. Sure, it may end in an easily predictable Deux Ex Machina style manner, but that’s what it takes to get the hysterical 85 minutes prior, it seems like a fair trade.
“The Angry Birds Movie 2” shows that with a willingness to put what works first; humor and animation, as well as adjusting the plot and characterizations to complement those elements, a Sequel can not only improve on the original, but can be a hilarious and enjoyable surprise. These birds may not soar to the heavens, but they certainly do fly. 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment