The smart phone video gaming sensation, Angry Birds, came to the big screen in 2016, it was mildly successful. Now audiences are set to head back to the warring islands of birds and pigs for The Angry Birds Movie 2.
Remember that old saying the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well that sentiment comes to life in the latest from Sony Pictures Animation. Eagle Island has launched giant ice balls towards both Pig Island and Bird Island and the two must join forces to stop this new isle from destroying everything and taking it all over.
If you had the occasion to check out the first film, Red (Jason Sudeikis) was a no good, well, Angry Bird. Nobody in his community cared for him, and the feeling was kind of mutual. He, of course, rises to the occasion and saves the day and now everyone on Bird Island adores him. Red’s face is everywhere … and he loves the attention after years of being shunned for being so … yup, angry. Those pesky pigs tried their best to ruin Red’s island—led by Leonard (Bill Hader).
The sequel immediately illustrates the utter adoration for Red. The two sides are still, literally, lobbing pranks at each other with their giant sling shots. I must admit, some of those are pretty funny. But more on the humor later… After Leonard and Red learn that they have to work together to stop the expansionist/revenge plot of the leader of Eagle Island, Zeta (Leslie Jones), there are some bumps in the road—to say the least. Their relationship is the least of their concerns at the moment. The peril that falls from the air on their two abodes is coming in hot. We also learn that Debbie and her cohorts are concluding work has a super weapon that will make those flying ice balls seem like Nerfs.
The vocal performances by all involved is stellar. They are the main reason to see this film. Led by Sudeikis, who was born to be Red, and Hader—who was born to be Leonard, the ensemble finds on weak link. The entire endeavor should be used as a demo reel for how to capture the essence of an animated character and to wring every last drop of animated reality out of these birds, pigs and eagles.
Hader so loses himself in the role that if you did not know it was him going in, you’d be driving yourself crazy all night trying to discern who that was as the leader of the piggies. The Saturday Night Live veteran has always been an enormous voice actor, just watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and its sequel for proof of that. Sudeikis, meanwhile, has an utter blast nailing every emotional nuance of this insecure character and the audience completely understands why he is the way he is—all from Hader’s fellow SNL star’s performance.
Supporting those two leads are returning favorites such as Josh Gad as Chuck, Danny McBride is explosive as Bomb. Maya Rudolph’s take on Matilda will have you waltzing (Google it!), while Peter Dinklage’s Mighty Eagle is in many ways the key to this entire story and the Game of Thrones actor (who deserved an Oscar nod last year for his sensational performance in I Think We’re Alone Now) dazzles his way through another gem of an acting effort.
Joining the cast is Sterling K. Brown, as the This is Us breakout goes geek for a great turn as Garry. Rachel Bloom (My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) is unreal as Silver, aka Chuck’s sister. Her and Red have the best repartee in the entire flick. What she brings to the role is such spark, I kept thinking its best she stays as far away from Bomb as possible, if you know what I mean?! The she’s everywhere thespian, Awkwafina, has a blast as Courtney, one of Leonard’s lieutenant. Another who seems to be everywhere, Tiffany Haddish continues her seemingly never-ending hot streak as Debbie while Eugenio Derbez rocks us once again in her tackling of Glenn, another Zeta charge. The actor, too, is everywhere as he even has another movie in theaters currently—Dora the Explorer.
Robert Downey Jr. famously said that a movie that pits “good” versus “bad” is only as good as its villain. What Jones brings to the purple Eagle Zeta is nothing short of a mesmerizing movie miracle. She is the perfect foil for Sudeikis and Hader, as the trio of titanic talents do a dance that takes all of their innate gifts to make the film infinitely more watchable than the script they’re given.
One might get the impression, from what has been stated so far, that this sequel is a film that can be easily recommended. Yet, that cannot happen. It much more watchable than the 2016 first film … but that is not saying much. The Angry Birds Movie 2 is just completely boring and the most puzzling of entities. How can something that has so many players playing to the best of their ability that jaws could even drop from the sheer talent put on display? There is just an enormous amount of difficulty separating the fact that this is a smart phone video game made into a movie. It is one where screenwriters appear to be grasping at straws to piece together a coherent narrative that fits the tenor of the blockbuster game while staking out its own claim on the entertainment spectrum.
Hey, I do not have anything against video games becoming feature films. There are numerous efforts that shine, most recently and notably, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. Of course, that was a great script and a beloved character within rich and layered world. Angry Birds is basically tossing a bird or something else and launching it at structures that you need to destroy. There is not much to work with if that’s your starting point. Yet I firmly believe that someone with a tad more imagination and creativity than what screenwriters Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart give us in their latest could do something with.
During the film, my attention drifted to places far and wide and none of it centered on these Angry Birds. There’s a whole lot of vocal talent up on that screen that at least made the experience interesting from an appreciator of thespian arts point of view. That is about it.
Grade: D