★★
A new threat emerges that puts both Bird and Pig Island in danger, forcing both species to work together.
Classification: U
Better than it's predecessor but not an improvement by much, Rovio's and Sony's Angry Birds Movie 2 is a middling animated affair with a few bright spots of comedy and very little else. Going for a predictable story that places its emotional payoffs in the least satisfying plot lines, Thurop Van Orman continues the unfortunate trends that have infested animated comedies. With hackneyed pop culture references, moderately familiar popular music being played over scenes for unsuccessful comedic effect, and an overall poor dramatic foundations to build likeable characters from. Angry Birds exists within a very ridiculous world and the animation design team get to have a lot fun with it especially with the Pig World as their technological advances mean lots of strange gadgets and gizmos to push the comedy forward. However Van Orman also wants to have the best of both worlds so tries to incorporate the typical dramatic plot points to give the film unnecessary melodrama; love interests, main character's personal conflicts, world ending stakes. While these are predictable developments for a sequel, Angry Birds 2 works best when it works against the expected and delivers moments of bizarre comedic brilliance.
One of the main issues with the film is that it has an unlikeable main character and pins a lot of the story on his development and leaves the more enjoyable characters to the periphery as comic relief rather than anything substantial. Red voiced by Jason Sudeikis, is a jealous, arrogant, stubborn protagonist who disregards any advice because of his egotistical mindset due to his victories over the pigs from the first film. He is a character afraid of losing his value among his people due to a possible truce with the Pigs against their new opponent and while that storyline does have possibilities, Angry Birds 2 and Van Orman's direction doesn't have enough depth to really give it attention it deserves. It goes for the bare minimum of character development and hinges predictable clichés to have the character go from unlikeable to "likeable" but with no real effect on the audience. Even the villains from the first film, the Pigs led by Leonard voiced by Bill Hader are more likeable characters as any maliciousness they may harbour towards the birds is completely disregarded and they become full on comic relief contributing to some of the films best comedic scenes.
Angry Birds 2 wants to be a rapid fire comedy fest while at the same time checking all the boxes on the "family friendly film" list by having underdeveloped plots of family, teamwork, defeating evil through love and friendship. It makes the overall experience somewhat unbalanced, the core story takes on a parody of a spy/heist film as the birds and pigs form a team to infiltrate the mysterious eagle island which threatens the safety of their homes and friends. This storyline goes between the humour and the drama with some successes on both fronts but overall not a gripping experience but intercut to pad out the runtime is an incredibly entertaining B-Plot about three baby chicks who go off on a separate adventure to rescue some eggs they inadvertently put in danger. Similar to the Penguins from Madagascar or Scrat from the Ice Age film series, these vignettes of this adventure are excellent distractions from the main plot and in almost every case are the most memorable moments of the film. Giving the film its best gags, it shows how the loose but simple narrative given to these baby birds is far more effective and allowed the filmmakers to get really creative with how they ramped up the tension and insanity of the plot line as these characters commit kidnapping, physical assault and even traverse into space to complete their mission.
The chick storyline has more bizarre outcomes than the actual storyline involving espionage and a world ending plot which displays Angry Birds 2 weakness in conforming to more traditional storytelling and comedy in family orientated animated films. It's based off a video game series that revolves around birds being hurled as projectiles towards complicated structures filled with pigs in order to kill them for currency, obviously when this franchise veers towards the ludicrous, it prospers. Even the main storyline achieves this through their own strange execution of a classic gag; the Angry Birds version of three kids stacked on top of each other in a trench coat is to have three pigs and two birds shoved inside a terrifying eagle costume and then awkwardly try to steal a key card while at a urinal. Nothing really stands out in the performances except for Hader and Dinklage whose talent for strange and funny voices keeps their antics refreshing but essentially every vocal performer is just playing to their strengths or star power rather than making their characters unique or memorable.
It's a serviceable comedy for children and families but there are hints of potential for a more overall satisfying experience which makes these faults all the more noticeable. The parts of Angry Birds 2 that work are great fun and lend itself to the unique stylings of the franchise but when it wants to play it safe, Van Orman's direction just drains all the excitement and originality out of the film. It's more outlandish comedy is where this sequel improves upon its predecessor but beyond that the film still suffers from the typical jokes expected from a entry in this genre along with the banal storyline.
Director: #ThuropVanOrman
Cast: #JasonSudeikis, #JoshGad, #LeslieJones, #BillHader, #RachelBloom, #NickiMinaj, #Awkwafina, #SterlingKBrown, #EugenioDerbez, #DannyMcBride, #PeterDinklage
Release Date: August 2nd 2019
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
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