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His name is “Red,” and his name and feather colors fit his mood. Angry? Perhaps. Unforgiving? Yes? Self-centered? Definitely.
Red lives on Bird Island, a place where birds live in constant threat of attacks from their enemies and animal counterparts, the pigs on Pig Island.
The pigs, of course, see things a little differently. If it weren’t for the birds, they say, the world would be a better place.
Neither side, though, has ever seen an attack that didn’t deserve a response.
Turn the other cheek? Not here.
So when the birds shoot a bottle of hot sauce across the water that explodes on Pig Island, the pigs retort by popping the birds’ balloons (by using a magnifying glass ray, of course). Then the birds respond by sparking a man-made tsunami that crashes onto Pig Island, and the pigs answer by dropping thousands of small crabs onto Bird Island.
If only the birds and pigs could find a common enemy to fight together.
That’s exactly what happens when an ice volcano on a third island starts launching “ice bombs” at the other two pieces of land. The mastermind behind these cold explosives is an opinionated bird named Zeta, who has a plan to destroy the inhabitants of Bird and Pig Islands so she can live and relax on both.
It will take a team effort to defeat her. But can the birds and pigs get along?
The film The Angry Birds Movie 2(PG) opened this week, starring Jason Sudeikis (The Angry Birds Movie) as Red, Leslie Jones (Ghostbusters, 2016) as Zeta, and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as the bird Silver.
It and its 2016 predecessor are spinoffs of the popular Angry Birdsvideo game franchise.
Both Angry Birdsmovies, though, lack entertainment value (each received a B CinemaScore from moviegoers, a rock-bottom score for an animated film). More significantly, though, they fall far short of being kid-friendly.
The newest Angry Birds 2movie includes: a scene of a pig taking selfies of his rear end and shirtless torso in front of the mirror, a scene and a joke about two birds making out, a lengthy scene of a bird urinating in a urinal, a scene of a pig in a thong, a scene of a pig in spandex as we hear Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy, and more posterior and poop jokes than you can count. It also has minor language.
It is one of the least kid-friendly animated films I’ve seen. It’s as if three random fourth-grade boys wrote the script.
That’s too bad, because its core message — reconciliation, teamwork and humility — are positive lessons children need to hear.
Unless your children are mega-mature, I’d skip it.
Warning: minor/moderate spoilers!
(Scale key: none, minimal, moderate, extreme)
Violence/Disturbing
Minor/moderate. The pigs and birds open the film by playing a tit-for-tat game of trying to destroy the other’s island, although most of the violent “acts” are silly (the birds shoot hot sauce at the pigs; the pigs drop crabs on Bird Island). Zeta tortures her engineer by freezing his legs and arms in blocks of ice. She freezes a dog, too. A bird gets accidentally knocked out in a restroom.
Sexuality/Sensuality/Nudity
Minor/moderate. Red goes to a speed dating event because it’s “mating season.” A pig enjoying a hot spring bath with others stands up, revealing a thong. Leonard the pig is showing slides in a film room, preparing for battle, when inappropriate pictures of him pop up on the screen. We hear one of them is a “butt shot.” (We see him taking pictures of his rear end.) Red and Silver accidentally fall on one another when other pigs and birds walk in and assuming they were kissing — or something else. (“Yeah they were,” someone says while taking a picture.) A pig gets “plan X” confused for “spandex” and wears the latter. (We then hear the song, I’m Too Sexy.) We learn Zeta and another eagle had a baby chick after their wedding day was called off. (The chick says: “That’s my father?”) The pigs don’t wear pants, and multiple times the film makes jokes about their posteriors.
Coarse Language
Minor. The film is full of words that many households don’t let their young children (or older children) say. OMG is said three times and drawn out for effect. Other words parents may want to know about: heck (3), stupid (3), butts (3), idiot (2), gosh (2), crap (1). We also year “are you freaking kidding me?” and “don’t screw this up.” A baby chick curses, although it’s fully bleeped out.
Other Stuff You Might Want To Know
We learn Zeta’s ex-fiance abandoned her on their wedding day. The film includes multiple songs from the 1980s and 1990s.
Life Lessons
Reconciliation is always possible: The pigs and birds — former enemies — become friends once they get to know one another. They become a team.
No one enjoys an arrogant person: A self-centered Red teams up with a few birds and pigs to defeat Zeta, but he rejects all their ideas. Soon, they want to abandon him.
Humility is a secret to happiness: When Red puts others first, his life improves. Others like him more. They make progress on beating Zeta. He’s happier, too.
Worldview/Application
Humility is one of the trademarks of the Christian. God “opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). His Word commands us to have “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love” and a “tender heart” — but these are possibly only if we have a “humble mind” (1 Peter 3:8).
Christ — the creator of the universe — was humble. He expects the same of his children.
What Works
The plot’s core story is interesting. It could haveworked. Sadly, the filmmakers went for cheap laughs.
What Doesn’t
I laughed out loud three to four times. But most of the film is 90 minutes of inappropriate nonsense.
Discussion Questions
1. Is there someone in your life you need to forgive? Do you need reconciliation?
2. Why does God want us to be humble?
3. What caused Red to change his outlook on life?
4. Did you think Angry Birds 2 had too much potty humor? Why or why not?
Entertainment rating:2 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating:3.5 out of 5 stars.
Rated PG for rude humor and action.
