Film Review: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES (2011)

Director: David Bowers
Writer (screenplay): Gabe Sachs, Jeff Judah
Writer (book): Jeff Kinney
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Comedy/Family
UK Release date: 27^th May 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 7^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I must admit I’m not entirely sure why I watched this film; the first one was pretty mediocre at best. I guess there are a couple of characters from the first one I enjoyed and so my subconscious was telling me to check them out again. Whilst not being the best film there were still things about it I enjoyed; but more of that after this brief summary.

Greg Heffley is back and he is not getting on with his big brother Rodrick. His mom has had enough and she devises a plan where the pair of them get to spend more time together in order to work out their differences. Add to this a new school year and a new girl, Holly Hills, starting in Greg’s class. Needless to say he is interested. His friends are also back; Rowley, Fregley and Chirag Gupta are all there to add to some spice of Greg’s life. When their parents go away for a weekend leaving Greg and Rodrick alone together events take a turn and the pair actually end up getting on together. Will it last? Well, I guess I had better not tell you that or the Spoiler Police (Brothers Division) will be taking away my big brother privileges (again)… Yes I am an evil older brother... but I actually get on with my younger sibling.

Quite well made with slightly more use of the cartoons I liked in the first one used to illustrate the story. These were woefully underused in the first film and, although still not used consistently enough, it was nice to see them still there. All the performances were pretty good so honourable mentions go to; Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley, Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley, Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley (mom), Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley (dad), Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson and Peyton List as Holly Hills.

I still think the character of Greg is a little too self-centred, for him it’s all about being popular which never seems to work out the way he plans. This time his big brother is going to help him out… or is he? In the first film I felt the character of Rowley stole the show and this time around it seemed he took more of a back seat with Rodrick moving nearer to the limelight. This didn’t work quite so well (for me) but I guess the production company must think they’re doing something right because the third instalment is already in the can. Over all, not as good as the first film but there were still a one or two good points… I’m undecided about the third instalment, but we’ll see next year when it airs on TV.

My score: 5.5/10

IMDb Score: 6.2/10 (based on 7,145 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1650043/

MetaScore: 51: (Based on 23 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 47/100 (based on 94 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 63/100 (based on 29,070 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/diary_of_a_wimpy_kid_2_rodrick_rules/

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http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Bill Walter: Hey, no hard feelings, right?
Rodrick Heffley: Hey, Bill, you know what? After tonight, you're out of the band!
Bill Walter: What?
Rodrick Heffley: That's rock and roll, bro.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.diaryofawimpykidmovie.com/
Trailer: