{"id":1015,"date":"2011-05-26T10:58:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-26T10:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2011-05-26T11:20:16","modified_gmt":"2011-05-26T11:20:16","slug":"diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-rodrick-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/comedy\/diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-rodrick-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules ****"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Kids films come and go, and some (shamelessly) rely on big 3D promises to get the younger audience into cinema seats. So, it\u2019s nice to see a good old-fashioned kids film \u2013 minus 3D \u2013 with bundles of straightforward, playful fun that all generations can enjoy. Sequels are tricky nuts to crack, especially with so much expectation involved, but with an army of young fans in tow, things should prove easier. This is definitely the case with Part 2 of the Wimpy Kid<\/em> called Rodrick Rules<\/em><\/a> that\u2019s a mix of various moments in the book series, and feels more heartfelt, funnier, and a little less gross than the first film last year.<\/p>\n

The book\/film series follows Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon<\/a>), a kid who\u2019s \u2018wimpy\u2019 cool, and his misfit band of friends. In this film, Greg\u2019s a year older and begins seventh grade at middle school. He and his rocker-wannabe older brother \u2013 and chief tormentor \u2013 Rodrick (Devon Bostick<\/a>) must deal with their parents\u2019 (played by Rachael Harris<\/a> and Steve Zahn<\/a>) misguided attempts to get them to bond. In the meantime, Greg starts having feelings for girls \u2013 well, one in particular called Holly (the dolly-like Peyton List<\/a>), and must deal with growing up while fending off his brothers\u2019 attempts to ruin his life.<\/p>\n

Set up like a US TV sitcom, minus the canned laughter, Wimpy Kid 2<\/em><\/a> does well to paint a brief picture of who all the characters are, and doesn\u2019t just annoyingly presume that you know the background story, hence leaving out the newcomer. For those fond of the book\u2019s cartoon style, the film-makers still blend animation and live-action to satisfy all tastes. The story may well be for kids but it still targets adult nostalgia for school-day issues, fear of social exclusion, and first crushes in a quirky, snappy and witty fashion.<\/p>\n

Watching Greg grow up feels like watching a little brother of your own, and the characters are some of the most fleshed out and appealing of many family films of late. Gordon has developed Greg further, making him a little wiser and adding more depth in this film, as well as upped his comic timing for such a young actor. In fact, he and Robert Capron<\/a> as his crazy, loyal friend, Rowley, make quite an accomplished comedic pairing in this, where Rowley is a strong right-hand gag man \u2013 much like tame, child-friendly Superbad<\/a><\/em>, where the friendship strengthens as time goes on.<\/p>\n

Bostick returns as frustrated teen Rodrick, and shares a lot more screen-time with Greg \u2013 as the title suggests. Both actors convincingly portray that fine balance between brotherly love-hate with great humour, sentimentality and unspoken understanding. It\u2019s a bond that anyone with siblings can relate to, and it\u2019s a tonic to watch the maturing transformation of both brothers, without them losing all their innocence. And it\u2019s childhood innocence that this series emphasises and embraces that makes it so memorable and enjoyable.<\/p>\n

Harris and Zahn are the chalk-and-cheese parents and excellent as the elder Heffleys, delightfully recreating all the childhood embarrassments you can possibly imagine \u2013 especially when trying to impress the opposite sex (cue Mom dance). As with the younger members of the cast, Harris and Zahn have perfect comedy timing and rapport that keeps things authentic and sparky, making the family unit a complete one worth spending 101 minutes in the company with. This is ironic considering its \u2018warring factions\u2019.<\/p>\n

The immature element would not be complete without touches of smut (Rodrick\u2019s L\u00f6ded Diper band) and bodily-function jokes (Greg\u2019s \u2018holy\u2019 embarrassment), but none of it\u2019s done to excess at the expense of the storyline, with the visual gags never dwelled on but nicely edited to enhance what a character is going through at any one moment. There\u2019s a mixture of quick-fire gags and longer-running verbal quips (the Mom Buck exchange for spending time together) that keep the pace interesting and non-complacent, too.<\/p>\n

We bet a Mom Buck you\u2019ll have a fun time in the company of the Heffleys, a family like any other dealing with highs and lows, tears and tantrums that will have you rolling your eyes and nodding in recognition. Being able to relate is central to the series\u2019 success, and with the help of a cracking sense of humour and credible family flaws, Jeff Kinney<\/a>‘s illustrated novel Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2<\/em> has been carefully adapted and cannot help but resonate with anyone, regardless of being a fan or not.<\/p>\n

4\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n

By @FilmGazer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kids films come and go, and some (shamelessly) rely on big 3D promises to get the younger audience into cinema seats. So, it\u2019s nice to see a good old-fashioned kids film \u2013 minus 3D \u2013 with bundles of straightforward, playful fun that all generations can enjoy. Sequels are tricky nuts to crack, especially with so … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules ****”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[1093,1091,1098,1095,1094,1096,992,1097,1092],"class_list":["post-1015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-family","tag-devon-bostick","tag-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-rodrick-rules","tag-jeff-kinney","tag-peyton-list","tag-rachael-harris","tag-robert-capron","tag-steve-zahn","tag-superbad","tag-zachary-gordon"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1019,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions\/1019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmgaze.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}