Fewer laughs to ruffle feathers
The Angry Birds Movie 2
U, 97 mins
Directed by Thurop Van Orman and John Rice, computer-animated caper The Angry Birds Movie 2 feathers its nest with an achingly predictable journey of self-discovery and timely lessons about collaboration and acceptance across the cultural divide.
While the 2016 original felt like a glossy promotional tool for the puzzle-oriented games, the sequel has the freedom to invent its own stories and colourful supporting characters.
It’s disappointing that the screenwriters don’t seize this opportunity and rely on obvious visual gags to embellish a linear narrative that lacks dramatic tension or jeopardy, even when cute birds are being pelted with balls of molten lava.
Residents of Bird Island and Pig Island are locked in a war of attrition and pranks.
Feathered heroes use a giant slingshot to propel a bottle of hot sauce across the sea that separates the two communities, and their porcine adversaries retaliate by dropping hundreds of angry crabs from airships.
Red (voiced by Jason Sudeikis), livewire Chuck (Josh Gad) and worrywart Bomb (Danny McBride) spearhead the birds’ efforts to stay one cluck ahead of the pigs’ rotund leader, Leonard (Bill Hader).
These frenemies are shocked to discover the existence of a third colony, the frozen wasteland of Eagle Island, where embittered ruler Zeta (Leslie Jones) and her daughter, Debbie (Tiffany Haddish), are plotting to overthrow birds and pigs using a steam-powered superweapon.
“We need to put our differences aside and work together,” Leonard implores the birds, so Red quickly assembles a crack team for a daring mission to Eagle Island.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 is punctuated sparingly with broad slapstick like Bomb’s hilarious attempt to sneak unnoticed past eagle guards, but there are noticeably fewer giggles than the first film.
Visuals are gleefully saturated with retina-straining colour and co-directors Van Orman and Rice deliver outlandish set-pieces with gusto including the hunt for a security pass that culminates in a hysterically awkward encounter at a urinal.
For once, toilet humour is the height of comic sophistication.