A bad, boring bunch of nuts
There’s something eerily slimy about Will Arnett’s voice. It’s deep, velvety and rich with texture, sure, but then there’s that sinister undertone — a trait that would make for an excellent villain.
But Arnett has always been better as the loser type, like Gob Bluth in Arrested Development. That kind of character arc has a limit, and the actor has since moved on to more mature roles, like his depressive, substance-abusing characters in Netflix’s Flaked and Bojack Horseman.
Arnett also voices kids movies, and it’s an admittedly strange fit. In Nut Job and now the unnecessary sequel Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature, Arnett plays Surly, a lazy purple squirrel whose buddies — a motley crew of city-park animals — scored a lifetime supply of nuts after they managed to shut down a corrupt Mafia owned nut factory.
Surly doesn’t play by the rules. He wants everything to be easy. Contrasting Surly’s indolence is Andie (Katherine Heigl), a do-gooder squirrel who champions hard work.
Despite Surly’s surliness and laziness, he’s somehow the leader of the pack. He’s a bad nut and his less than admirable behaviour is allowed, even celebrated, by his peers. He treats Andie horribly. And, the film does very little to acknowledge this or give Andie any moments to put Surly properly in his place.
Nutty By Nature has bigger fish to fry, though, and once trouble arrives in the form of an explosion, a corrupt mayor and the bulldozing of the animals’ park for a carnival, the team has to put their differences aside and work together.
With its heavily telegraphed morals and utterly boring plot points, Nut Job 2 is an unremarkable tale. Jokes are few and far between and the animation does shockingly little to play up the unique physical characteristics of its colourful cast of creatures.
While mediocrity in animated films continues to make adults yawn, what should raise an eyebrow in a film like Nut Job 2 is the weird gender dynamic between Surly and Andie. Oh well — a movie as forgettable as Nut Job 2 will quickly disappear into the summer haze.