Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules (2011)
Certified: U
Duration: 99 minutes
Directed by: David Bowers
Starring: Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, Connor and Owen Fielding, Peyton R. List, Karan Brar, Grayson Russell, Laine MacNeil, Terence Kelly, Fran Kranz
KRS release
For Greg (Zachary Gordon) moving to seventh grade means that he and his friends are no longer the youngest kids in school. His group includes Rowley (Robert Capron) and Chirag Gupta (Karan Bar). Fregley (Grayson Russell) is still goofing around while Patty (Laine MacNeil) is still Greg’s sworn enemy. Holly Hills (Peyton List) is the new girl in school and Greg is immediately smitten with her despite the likes of Greg’s older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick) and his friend Chirag telling him she will never fall for him.
Greg’s parents Susan and Frank (Rachel Harris and Steve Zahn) have always wished that their sons would get along but Rodrick usually makes Greg’s life a living hell so this seems quite impossible. Their other brother, the three-year-old Manny (Connor and Owen Fielding), is just a bystander to his brothers’ drama. Rodrick forms part of a garage band called Loded Diper. His parents are now concerned as guitarist Bill (Fran Kranz) has joined the band. The town’s talent show is near and Greg has two fronts to deal with: on one side his older brother continues making his life miserable and, on the other, he has to get himself noticed by Holly.
Diary of A Wimpy Kid 2 continues where the first film left off and is again refreshing, funny and, most of all, well aimed at its teenage target audience. The refreshing aspect of this franchise is that it targets teenagers without having to resort to super-powered heroes, aliens, wand-waving wizards or anything else that is fantasy related. Not that I have anything against those genres!
By grounding the film in school, the teenage everyday troubles, sibling bullying and first love/infatuation make this movie’s characters endearing and easy to identify with for the teenage audience.
Another factor I like is the fact that the hero is a geek and a wimp, not the leader of the gang. Zachary Gordon really plays him down to a hilt and it is his charming and sparkly turnout that provides quite a core to the film. Seeing him deal with the embarrassing situations that his mother places him in is hilarious while seeing him burdened with the result of her newspaper opinion column subject adds more to his humiliation.
While keeping to a central storyline, the film is more of a collection of sketches that keep the audience’s attention in its hold. The message that everyone craves acceptance but one has to beware to what lengths one will go to achieve this, is not new but is well delivered.
The difference between Greg and Rowley is very well delineated: One is always trying to be cool and is thus never content with himself and his friends while the other lives life happily and makes the best out of what life has to offer.
This is a film that says a lot about family, brothers and the dynamics that are present in such a unit but never gets weighed down by its message. Most of all, it manages to entertain which is more than can be said of other films.