‘Angry Birds 2’ Critics’ Review: A Neon-Hued, Breezy Family Flick

The animated film features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Peter Dinklage, Leslie Jones and Awkwafina.

A still from The Angry Birds Movie 2, an animated film based on the popular video game.

(Photo Courtesy: Sony Pictures Animation)

The Angry Birds Movie 2 is a sequel to 2016’s animated film The Angry Birds Movie. While the first instalment featured the flightless birds from the popular video game take on lurid green pigs that suddenly invade their island, the sequel sees the two warring factions unite against a common enemy. The film has been directed by Thurop Van Orman (creator of the Emmy-winning Cartoon Network show The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack) and features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, Peter Dinklage, Leslie Jones, Rachel Bloom and Awkwafina.

Here’s what critics have to say about the film:

“Propulsively paced, garishly coloured and full of haphazard comic energy, ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ is a giant splashy bid for the big school summer holiday market. It may lack the refined wit and revered pedigree of blue-chip animation franchises such as Toy Story, but it still ticks plenty of lightweight fun boxes for its prime target audience of younger children, with just enough adult humour to keep parents from yawning, too.”

Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter 

“Where its predecessor contorted itself to work the game’s essential imagery and strategy into a shaggy narrative, the sequel persuasively cements the films as a franchise in their own right. We’re free, then, to drift into story worlds and digressions with nary a trace of the source material’s DNA, even as the plush, fluorescent finish of the animation (a gaudy-but-gorgeous alternative to Disney-Pixar refinement) keeps things true to the original game’s eye-scorching aesthetic. That increased flexibility mostly works to the film’s benefit, with Van Orman and the writers investing in more elaborate, inspired comic setpieces without referential in-jokery.”

Guy Lodge, Variety

“As in its predecessor, a lot gets thrown at the screen – Nicki Minaj is the 19th-billed voice artist – and not everything zings: there are some (perhaps knowingly) lame references to dabbing and “resting bird face”. Yet this is one sequel you can’t fault for effort, and the dud jokes are far outnumbered by the ones that are just about cute, smart or screwy enough to nudge out a laugh.”

Mike McCahill, The Guardian