STUART LITTLE 2
Mousy but mighty Stuart is still making life stickily hectic for his
adoptive family, the Littles, in this mix of live-action and animation.
(Now in stores)
CAST: Michael J. Fox, Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki,
Nathan Lane, Melanie Griffith, James Woods, Steve Zahn
DIRECTOR: Rob Minkoff
"...in its slapstick-lite way, it comes closer than the first movie
did to evoking the book's wistful vision of loyalty and friendship...the
animation is so vibrant that you can practically reach out and touch
the fur and feathers...lively without being hyperactive...a bouncy
mouse caper with a wee bit of soul." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment
Weekly
"... more than the last time around, it has elements that might help
divert those bigger people who find themselves unavoidably in attendance...Freed
from the burden of setting up Stuart's world, this film, written by
Bruce Joel Rubin and directed once again by Rob Minkoff, gives freer
rein to Stuart's enthusiastic personality...A curious byproduct of
this improvement is that by comparison, 'Stuart 2's' on-screen humans
are even harder to take than they were in the original...there's really
no excuse for them to seem less real than a bunch of computer-generated
animals...Like many modern children's films, 'Stuart Little 2' can't
decide between teaching good values ('You're only as big as you feel')
and tossing out fake-hip jokes. Though it doesn't happen as often
as it should, this is a better film when it allows itself simply to
be sweet." --Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times
"What sets the 'Stuart Little' franchise above most of the competition
is its emphasis on sharply drawn character and its profusion of witty
remarks (mostly from the mouth of Snowbell) that are cutting enough
to amuse grown-ups without sailing over children's heads...'Stuart
Little 2' has even snappier action sequences than the first film...the
special effects are trickier and the whimsy more pronounced...Unlike
so many family films, 'Stuart Little 2' has no interest in demonstrating
its hipness. Deeply respectful of childhood innocence, it knows where
not to go." --Stephen Holden, The New York Times
"...a dreadful, heavy-handed and unimaginative script by Bruce Joel
Rubin that doesn't respect or even understand the spirit behind White's
story, let alone the original movie... 'Stuart Little 2' has a lot
more stupid action--and a lot less heart--than the character-driven
original...Laurie appears addled addressing Stuart, who's a computer-generated
effect--while Davis seems like she's auditioning for a remake of 'The
Stepford Wives.'" --Lou Lumenick, The New York Post
"...a very funny and satisfying chapter in the life of our favorite
little mouse. Bring on Chapter 3." --John Kehe, The Christian Science
Monitor
|
