Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

I really was hoping for an upgrade after last year's animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie came out. These had big shoes to fill because they will be compared to the original non-animated trilogy of films. But much like the first animated film, I was disappointed. The animation still lacked and the scenes didn't connect very well. It felt very drawn out, more than it needed to and the scenes were just boring. I suppose the voice acting was a little better. But there wasn't much of a chance for a phenomenal performance. I feel like the idea has potential but they really need to fix a lot if they plan to continue this animated movie series.

Overall, 5/10.

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney are funny and have relatable characters. The people who have read the books or the Second book know what I am talking about.

Now we have the animated sequel to Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021) called Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2022). I liked the first animated movie, and I did like this second movie.

Greg and Rodrick are likable like in the books and still have good designs like the drawings in the book, along with a good brother relationship that was nice seeing knowing. Even though they do not get along most of the time they work together when they need to or help each other out when they need to.

The movie has recognizable scenes from the second book that look good in the animation style. If you had read the books or mostly the second book, then you would know where the movie is going.

I recommend reading the books, but you can watch this without having read the first book. This is a fine adaptation of the second book that I thought was as enjoyable as the first movie.

They just keep making these, eh? Not good when one is somewhat of a completionist when it comes to franchises.

'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules' is at least a minor improvement on the original animated flick from a year prior. The run time is nice and short so doesn't really overly stay its welcome, naturally (given I'm obviously not the target audience etc.) it was a bit boring throughtout for me. I can still acknowledge it's a relatively OK film, though.

The voice cast aren't anything worth shouting from the rooftops about, perhaps with the exception of a certain Ed Asner. It shows how the live-action films from this series actually did do a good job with its casting, because I still always associate the characters here to Zachary Gordon & Co. - despite only seeing those movies once or twice.

I'm split on the animation style. On the one hand it looks dull, yet kinda still works. I remember the 2021 release had some overt continuity issues onscreen, as well as a few audio problems. This one doesn't, at least none of which I noticed, so that's a plus point, I guess!

This movie is an absolute nightmare compared to not only the book it is based off of also the original live action film. I have nothing nice to say about this film. This film has no sense of direction or personality and it seems like it came out of someone's ass. I don't feeling the bonding of these characters like I do in both the boo and the original movie therefore when the "climax" happens where the boys get into a fight I don't feel like something valuable was lost unlike how I did reading and watching both original sources. The animation in this film looks like it was made on ten dollars. All the characters move so slowly and weird. Everyone has noodle limbs. And overall everything looks weird. The voice acting also doesn't help. It's not awful but it can't even hold a candle to the near perfect acting in the original film. I could go on and on about why this movie is bad but I'll just leave it here because what I'm saying has most likely been said. Disney do better.

Another movie in one year just like with the live-action trilogy, and this one? Yeah, I liked the live-action movie better. Like the first film, the animated version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is entirely mixed as a movie. I'll give the movie does have a decent heart and the jokes are fine. However, there are also times where the movie does feel little doing something new from the book it was based on. Also, the characters do have good development, but some of them do seem despicable in a dull way. And the animation is fine, but often seems dated. Since the movie has now a proper full-length running time, I won't say to treat this as one of those specials. But all I can say is if you're not a fan of the first animated film, this is not for you. However if you want to see what the creator of the book himself does in movies even as a fan of the book series, then watch this at least once just to compare this to the book. The one thing I'll say is I was wrong about all these movies coming out every year. Because I read an article that the third movie is already on the works, but never mentioned it was going to release next year. You can tell Jeff Kinney is trying with the franchise, even in this and the first movie. Sure some may argue this and the first were faithful to the live action films, but at least he was trying to add some difference inspired from the book. Oh and by the way...Rest In Peace, Ed Asner.