Almost ten years since the Angry Birds mobile game landed in app stores and inspired a worldwide craze
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Almost ten years since the Angry Birds mobile game landed in app stores and inspired a worldwide craze, the franchise seems to have been past its peak and everyone has moved on to other pop-culture obsessions. Everyone except the folks at Sony, that is, who have released the second film adaptation following the 2016 animation straightforwardly titled The Angry Birds Movie.
While the original closely mirrored the game’s main conflict - the war between Bird Island and Piggy Island, respectively occupied by - you guessed it - the birds and the pigs, the sequel expands upon this universe to include a third player: the perpetually frozen Eagle Island. Led by sassy mad scientist Zeta (Leslie Jones), the eagles plan to invade the other two islands for their warm tropical climate by shooting giant ice balls at them. The new common enemy forces the birds - Red (Jason Sudeikis), Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and genius engineering student Silver (Rachel Bloom) - to team up with the pigs - King Leonard (Bill Hader), Courtney (Awkwafina) and Garry Pig (Sterling K. Brown) - to save their homes.
The film starts off rather sluggishly, with the constant back-and-forth pranks between the birds and the pigs that should have been left in the original movie. Added the unnecessary footages of Red moping about and it seems as though the film does not quite know where it is heading. Luckily, the pace picks up considerably once the film finally figures out what it wants to be: a silly heist movie with enough gags to distract people from the somewhat flimsy plot.
Humour-wise, the film thrives on a combination of well-executed comedic set pieces and kid-friendly slapstick. Particularly delightful are a “Mission: Impossible"-style bathroom scene and an inpromptu dance-off with the eagle security guards. Adults may also recognise easter eggs and pop culture references sprinkled throughout the film (blink and you will miss little gems such as a bird reading a book titled “Crazy Rich Avians").
To anyone who isn't a diehard Angry Birds fan, a second movie about these fluffy brightly coloured creatures has no reason to exist. However, the film is proof that when the people behind a franchise can look beyond the source material and focus on creating a good story, the result may surprise us all. The film is no classic, but worth checking out for this reason alone.
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