The Angry Birds Movie 2

This review may contain spoilers!

The first Angry Birds movie was made in a time when no one was looking for it; just imagine what the sequel was like... I would give The Angry Birds Movie 2 a 1.5/10.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 is the sequel to 2016's The Angry Birds Movie and once again follows Red, Chuck and Bomb along some old and new friends as they adventure to a new and mysterious island. The soundtrack for this film is without a doubt the strongest quality, using a lot of recognizable tracks or recent music to heighten the comedy in a scene or connect with the audience.

Leslie Jones, who voiced Zeta, really has fun with her 'large and in charge' persona; Jones' really has a ton of energy and finds a way to make each line entertaining. Rachel Bloom, who voiced Silver, is one of the new protagonists in this film and genuinely stands out; Bloom is a strong leading presence and tends to carry this sequel in a number of her scenes. Awkwafina, who voiced Courtney, is an actress who is quite easy to connect with; her tech savvy pig character is a heroine worth watching.

However, the best performance came from Brooklynn Prince, Genesis Tennon and Alma Varsano, who voiced Zoe, Vivi and Sam-Sam respectively. I think the reason for separating these three young performers out from any of the rest of the cast is because they actually experimented and toyed with their lines. This trio really manages to find a way to find the humour in the scenario of a scene, to the extent that there is almost always consistently a funny moment whenever we cut to the hatchling storyline. The joy about getting kids to voice kids is that you get the boundless reserves of energy and feel engaged by them because they bring that to everything they do; not something that can be said for most of the more mature actors.

Angry Birds 2 feels like a film that was made because the last one made money and so a sequel was greenlit; not because anyone attached to the project was particularly excited by the idea of making another Angry Birds film. There is little to nothing redeeming within the plot and it is a hard watch from start to finish. The protagonist of Red is still plagued by his fears of being lonely which makes the first film feel remarkably redundant. However we soon learn that we're revisiting this with Red because we're going to get a focus on a love story between him and new addition to the cast, Silver. It's one of those opposites attract scenarios and opens a gateway to a number of horrid romance scenes throughout the film. The antagonist is a jilted single mother who despises Mighty Eagle for abandoning her on their wedding day and leaving her to raise their daughter; the plot predictably turns a 180 on this and reunites this odd family. But the fact that the villain has such shallow motivations makes this whole feature feel rather bare bones. Ultimately, the film has the resemblance of a plot that takes forever to go anywhere and attempts to make up for time by inserting a focus on three young hatchlings. The hatchlings are probably my favourite part of the film but their subplot isn't important and is entirely there to make up run time. The humour in this movie falls flat on its face, I haven't seen a movie that made me so embarrassed to watch it in such a long time. Every joke is an out of date reference, or a terrible pun/play on words, or worst of all it's just the creation of a cringeworthy situation that leaves you more uncomfortable than anything else. The animation for the film hasn't really improved at all; the character designs look goofy and the setting/location design is only good when it comprises the foreground.

Jason Sudeikis, who voiced Red, really doesn't seem wildly connected with this sequel; Sudeikis doesn't push his role much in this film and you don't get a lot of range throughout. Josh Gad, who voiced Chuck, just plays up the goofy side to his character far too much; Gad just really hams his part of being the comedic relief far too much. Bill Hader, who voiced Leonard, seems as equally bored as Sudeikis to be returning to Angry Birds; Hader doesn't put a lot of himself into this role and the leader of the pigs is strikingly not funny to watch. Sterling K. Brown, who voiced Garry, is quite a generic scientist role; Brown doesn't really fit the wacky and colourful cast of characters assembled here. Tiffany Haddish, who voiced Debbie, is a frustrating sidekick to Jones' antagonist; Haddish doesn't suit playing a kid role and made it a challenge to distinguish what her role actually was until the story actually told the audience. Danny McBride, who voiced Bomb, gives one of the lousier performances; McBride plays strongly to the fact his role is presented as the big dumb lug and so you really feel he's only there to deliver a few throw away gags. Peter Dinklage, who voiced Mighty Eagle, is seriously flat and toneless compared to the rest of the cast; Dinklage's ability to work strongly alongside a star-studded cast has worked almost consistently bar voice over work.