Monday, April 25, 2011

Brotherly war

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules” is a pretty regular sequel to the successful first adaptation, a normal enough family comedy that expounds on the escalating sibling rivalry between its titular characters. Greg’s (Zachary Gordon) dreams of becoming popular get repeatedly dashed by his mean older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick), an aspiring rock musician.

More smoothly executed than the first movie, “Rodrick Rules” benefits from a more comfortable cast, effortlessly reprising and fitting in their roles. Steve Zahn and Rachel Harris’ participation is more memorable, and the brothers’ enmity is magnified amusingly. It does, however, get quite uncreative and unrealistic with some familial situations, but the lighter tone does make it easily digestible by younger viewers. It’s prescriptive enough, and the transmission of generic family-themed messages doesn’t feel forced.

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