So, video game inspired movies are often mocked…and for good reason. Many of them are purely awful. When The Angry Birds Movie (2016) was announced nobody expected it to be very good as the game itself is light on story. Thus, how could a feature length cartoon based on such a thin premise possibly work. Sure, many people said it didn’t, but I found the film to be entertaining and surprisingly charming. I’d put off seeing the sequel, but I still think The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) is as watchable as the first.
After seeing The Angry Birds Movie 2, I can honestly I’m not angry at these birds.
The birds and pigs from the first film find themselves having to team up to fight a new enemy. Red (Jason Sudeikis) is relieved by this development as he fears losing his role as the hero could cost him his new found happiness. Zeta (Leslie Jones) is on an island mostly covered in ice and she has plans on moving in on the other two islands by running off or destroying their inhabitants. Leonard (Bill Hader) suggests a truce between the birds and pigs to take the fight to the third island in an attempt to save everyone. Red finds himself in a power struggle with Leonard and Chuck’s (Josh Gad) sister Silver (Rachel Bloom).
The element of this film that really won me over was the romantic comedy aspects of it. We are initially introduced to Silver at a round of speed dating that Red finds himself dragged into by Chuck and Bomb (Danny McBride). There is a little bit of lazy writing here as Chuck never runs into Silver during this whole event so that later it can be revealed that she is his sister, but it still mostly works for the comedy. Like most rom-coms, Red and Silver initially don’t click and the movie will spend the rest of the time convincing us and them why they would work. I, as stated many times, am a sucker for this formula and found it working here as well.
I don’t make it to as many animated movies as I would like to, but mainly because my daughter is getting too “grown” for them and I don’t like being the one adult male attending the kids movie alone. I make exceptions for the ones that pull both adults and kids, like Pixar films. Angry Birds doesn’t qualify, but I have to say I find this franchise to be entertaining. The voice casts works for me, the humor, while mostly stupid, is fun, and I think they have crafted a decent enough group of characters despite the thin premise brought in by the source material.
Final thoughts…
The Angry Birds Movie 2 doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but it purely entertaining. I don’t find anything to be wrong with the film and, if you like comedy, I think it is worth your time. You definitely don’t need to have played any of the games to find any joy in either of the films. Angry Birds Movie 2 earns a Decent Watch rating.
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