Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules movie review -- The family movie sans the melodrama!

Potato On-the-Go:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid initially seemed to be a pretty mysterious story for me, a dark yet funny narrative told and sketched on white pages.  And that mystery pulled me to watching the film.  So when 20th Century Fox invited me to the press screening of the second installment of the movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules, in Glorietta 4, of course, the word "no" was nowhere to be found in my vocabulary.  =D

Based on the book originally written by Jeff Kinney, Rodrick Rules is directed by David Bowers and stars Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris and Steve Zahn.  

Diary of A Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules narrates the return of Greg (Zachary Gordon), the wimpy kid, who’s entering the 7th grade and is now taller, wiser and too much pre-occupied in scoring points against his big brother and chief tormentor Rodrick (Devon Bostick). The story is even spiced up with Greg's romantic getaway, his adventures with his bestfriend Rowley (Robert Capron) and his quest to create an online sensation.  Thanks to the intriguing Mom Bucks program plus their parent’s different desperate attempts to have them bond, both Greg and Rodrick will have the ride of their life and experience the adventures of sibling rivalry and revelry!

And my verdict, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is wimpy!  But before the fans throw those tomatoes at me =D, let me explain why I called the movie as such.  WIMPY is my acronym for Wacky, Intelligent, Mastered Story Telling, Perfectly Imperfect and Youthful.

W for Wacky - From hilarious punchlines to extremely crazy situations and from animated facial expressions to scheme and evil filled smiles of lead characters, Rodrick Rules is a modern day pandora's box that once opened (seen) will unleash tons of laughter, kicks to the floor and applause from the audience.  Rowley with his zany antics becomes an instant favorite, not only among the high school girls in the movie, but among the movie goers as well.  The mom, Susan (Rachael Harris) whom we laughed at because of her weirdness almost all throughout the film, turns into a monstrous hit towards the end of the movie.  Greg (Zachary Gordon) with his torture magnet persona and trying hard to be evil smile and Rodrick (Devon Bostick) with his rockstar but clown like face and body movements  is a comic duo to watch out for.  And of course, Chirag (Karan Brar) is also a scene stealer in the film.

I for Intelligent - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules is not your usual family movie.  It is full of lessons but it's not told the fairy tale way.  You will be first taken into a roller coaster ride of emotion until you'll feel angry with Rodrick and the Heffley baby, pitiful with Greg, confused with Susan, and irritated with Frank (Steve Zahn) but they will eventually redeem themselves and inspire us all.

M for Mastered Story Telling - The movie, like the book, presents us with a simple yet well crafted story.  It takes us inside the mind of a young boy and how he deals with all the challenges in an adolescent's life.  The movie, pays tribute to its origin, the book, as it consistently puts together an effective diary like screenplay and the artistic visual story telling of the book.  It shows the link between the instant literary wonder and the fine motion picture.

P for Perfectly Imperfect.  Yes, Diary of a Wimpy Kid may be a family and comedy movie, and somehow wholesome, but they didn't use an imaginary world as a setting.  They did not recreate a new production setting for us, they just made us take a backseat, see the usual environment again, and think and rethink what's happening with the kids' and each family's lives.   It's not an all good reality setting but it somehow showed us how we can deal with it.

Lastly, Y for Youthful.  Kids and kids at heart will fall in love with the movie.  Kids for one, will see the world where they are living and get inspired with it.  The kids at heart on the other hand will be able to relate to the film as they witness once again the ordeals they faced when they were younger. 

Well, the only comment I have is I somehow wished that Rodick's torture (perhaps bullying) over Greg should have been redeemed with a realization or resolution just like how Chirag took himself up against Greg's actions or non-reactions against him.  It happens and it's real but it shouldn't be treated just normal. 

But above all, I consider Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules a perfect family movie, especially this coming Easter.  It shows us the dark side of reality but it will also lead us how to get through and reach for the brighter side of family  life.  From a scale of 1 to 10 claps, I'm giving Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules a happy and worthy 8!

From 20th Century Fox and distributed by Warner Bros., “Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” opens April 23, Black Saturday, in Metro Manila and Cebu theaters.