Review: Three islands, lives at stake and a battle for survival - sounds like a pretty serious plot for an animated film, but this one’s far from it. Right from the first scene, it’s established that this sequel of ‘The Angry Birds’ is strictly a kiddie flick and thankfully, it never tries to be anything other than that. The makers throw in a lot of slapstick comedy by a battery of old and new characters of all shapes, sizes and colours. Leading the pack is the hot-headed Red (Jason Sudeikis), who has pretty much become symbolic of the franchise. To save the Bird Island, Red along with his winged buddies Chuck (Josh Gad) and Bomb (Danny McBride) must work with their ace nemesis, the king pig Leonard Mudbeard (Bill Hader). Together the trio are in a good form, bringing in a bulk of the laughs with their goofy acts. While Red’s character gets a definite arc, Chuck, Bomb and Leonard have to play on their special powers and unbridled cuteness, to impress the audience. Chuck’s a speed demon and Bomb can literally explode at a minute’s notice. Together, they are a force to reckon with, and the makers ensure that their special powers are exploited quite well without going overboard. Among the newbies, Chuck’s sister Silver (Rachel Bloom) – a tech-savvy Brainiac and the film’s main villain Zeta (Leslie Jones), a purple eagle are quite impressive. Zeta’s villainy is more entertaining than threatening, but that doesn’t blunt the terror she wields.
The film hits the ground running with the faceoff between the characters right from the beginning, but its tonality remains silly throughout. There are references from the real world like a film poster called ‘Crazy Rich Avians’, and ‘Piggific’ ocean. Jokes and punches of varying degrees come in consistently and abundantly. Many of them land successfully.
Along with a lot of goofing around, there are also some unwanted detours like a parallel track of the hatchlings that never really matures into anything meaningful. Compared to many successful franchises from Hollywood’s animation hall of fame, ‘The Angry Birds’ sequel comes off as way too fluffy and juvenile. While it doesn’t soar to greater cinematic heights, it surely improves on the original. The film’s feather-light approach will leave you with quite a few chuckles without trying to be preachy or tug at your heartstrings.
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