The Angry Birds Movie 2
STARRING: JASON SUDEIKIS; JOSH GAD; LESLIE JONES; RACHEL BLOOM
DIRECTED BY: THUROP VAN ORMAN
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 STARS (Out of 4)
Adults tend to be rolling the dice when seeing a movie like The Angry Birds Movie 2. Similar to the first installment, it is a bright and colorful picture, geared towards making kids laugh, and push parents to buy more Angry Birds toys for Timmy and Sarah. I’m not even sure how many people still a\actually play the iPhone game, where you hurl various birds at structures to destroy, with hopes to advance to the next level? I know I don’t play the game any more (like most phone applications, one becomes bored with them and moves on to the next thing). Which is probably why I was surprised at how much I enjoyed The Angry Birds Movie 2. With an impressive group of actors doing voice work, a collection of popular songs to keep the tone upbeat, and a variety of hilarious jokes, The Angry Birds Movie 2 takes flight and climbs to delightful heights.
The “hero” from the last movie and the favorite of Bird Island is Red (Jason Sudeikis), the overconfident, and a bit cynical bird, leading the charge of protecting his fellow feathered friends from the vengeful pigs at Pig Island. The prank war between the two sides continues, along with his friends Chuck- the yellow bird (Josh Gad), Bomb- the round black cannon ball looking bird (Danny McBride), and newcomer Silver (Rachel Bloom) helping in shenanigans, that is, till the pigs call a truce. The reason for this newfound peace accord is that a frozen ice island, inhabited by eagles, led by the purple feathered Zeta (Leslie Jones), has plans of taking over both the pigs and birds warm utopias. This forces Leonard pig (Bill Hader) to find friendship with Red and his gang, to defeat any efforts to ruin their islands joy.
Now, I did not care much for the first installment in the Angry Birds universe. It came off to me as a pointless cash grab and creating a universe for something that didn’t need to extend beyond what we saw on our phone screen. Like many of these movies, the humor will be low-brow and the patience of parents will be tested of how much they can take. That just might be the reason why this time around, director Thurop Van Orman, writers Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell, and Jonathan E. Stewart seem to have a carefree approach to the material. The characters become flushed out quickly, each with their own unique and funny quirks. Chuck with his blazing speed, Bomb with his excitement for life that he can’t contain, and my favorite character- probably since Toy Story 4‘s Forky- has to be Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage), a manic depressive, yet mature bird in the group. The adventure these birds get into is hardly that important, it’s just how much fun you have with them, and boy did I have fun.
It also helps that Thurop Van Orman is aware that the vibrant colors and actions of the birds will keep the kids entertained, while jokes that reference movies such as The Great Escape or various Mission: Impossible movies is what keeps mom & dad happy. There is a parallel subplot, involving three baby birds attempting to retrieve eggs they lost in the ocean, which is a combination of adorable and silly, and will remind you of the entire concept of an Angry Birds Movie. The wackier things become, the more fun we start to have, the less annoying it all is, and you find yourself rooting for all the birds to achieve their goal. This is a high moment for The Angry Birds Movie 2. I can’t say that the next installment will be necessary, but I’ll enjoy this one, and let you know that this movie is pretty fly.
3 STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
