Small Screen Reviews

Studio:
Sony Pictures Releasing   

What’s It About?
The pig-bird prank wars are well under way, when out of the blue, Leonard, the king of the pigs, calls a truce as they are under threat from a mystery island, and must team up to overcome this new mutual enemy.   

Who’s In It?
Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses 1-2, We’re The Millers, Booksmart)
Josh Gad (Frozen, Beauty & The Beast, Murder On The Orient Express)
Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down, Pineapple Express, Alien: Covenant)   

Other notables include:
Bill Hader (Superbad, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 1-2, Inside Out)
Leslie Jones (SNL, Ghostbusters)   Director: Thurop Van Orman (debut)  

Audiences Expect:
After grossing around $350m worldwide, something of a surprise for a film based on an app, Angry Birds returns for more vibrant fun. 
The film take a little while to get going, re-establishing the characters, and the extensive prank war they are engaged in with the pigs on a neighbouring island, but when Leonard, the king of the pigs, seeks a truce following an attack from an unknown third island, the film finally starts to hit its stride.
With the pigs and birds teaming up in an A-Team style commando troupe to tackle an Eagles’ nest, the film borrows liberally from those classic war films as well as more modern classics like Mission: Impossible, landing its best joke of the film involving a disguise and a toilet block – genuinely laugh out loud.
As for the rest of the film, it suffers from predictability and a lack of any real heart or trepidation, despite an extremely impressive cast incorporating Jason Sudeikis, Danny McBride, Leslie Jones, Josh Gad, Bill Hader, Tiffany Haddish, Sterling K Brown and Awkwafina to name but a few.
With more hits than misses, this sequel falls short of the marker the original Angry Birds laid down.   

In A Nutshell:
More madcap fun, but more misses than hits for the Angry Birds.   

Highlight:
That toilet scene  

Lowpoint:
The jokes miss too often
The predictable script