A small number of sequels surpass their originals: ‘Terminator 2’, ‘The Godfather: Part 2’ and ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ are among them. Now one more joins the list – ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’.
Okay, ‘The Angry Birds Movie’ didn’t exactly push the cinematic boundaries of kids’ films, but it successfully took a video game premise and spun it into a fun family animation. This time, the filmmakers follow the ‘Bad Neighbours’ school of sequel-writing and have the original’s enemies, Red (Jason Sudeikis) and the pigs, team up. They must battle a new adversary: the evil (read: lonely) Zeta (Leslie Jones from ‘SNL’), a giant purple bird who attacks the pigs’ and birds’ islands because she’s sick of her own lair on a frosty volcano. It’s basically an animated ‘Austin Powers’ for kids.
There’s much to enjoy here. Co-writer Peter Ackerman (‘Ice Age’) gives the script enough kick to keep all ages engaged, with nods to everything from ‘Back to the Future’ to ‘Dawson’s Creek’, while Josh Gad, Danny McBride and Awkwafina get most of the laughs from a generally impressive vocal cast.
There are some questionable plot points, and it’s no ‘Toy Story 2’. But this animated sequel is tighter, funnier and sillier than its predecessor. It’s worth chicking out.