 |
Stuart Little 2
2002 - PG - 78 Mins.
|
| Director: Rob Minkoff | | Producer: Lucy Fisher, Douglas Wick | | Written By: Douglas Wick | | Starring: Hugh Laurie, Gena Davis, Jonathan Lipnicki, voices of Michael J. Fox, Nathan Lane, Melanie Griffith, James Woods, Steve Zahn |
| Review by: John Ulmer |
| |
|
“Stuart Little 2” it the follow-up to the 1999 hit “Stuart Little,” which had, at the time, made the most money for a non-Disney computer-animated film. Well, “Stuart Little,” based on the good children’s book by E.B. White, was unfortunately nothing good or great – at all. M. Night Shyamalan, who brought us “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” surprisingly wrote it; needless to say “Stuart Little” was his worst film.
Now, a few months back, in 2002, “Stuart Little 2” came out, and I caught it at a free theater.
It deals with the continuation of the Little family and their “son” Stuart (a little white mouse), who is voiced by Michael J. Fox. Hugh Laurie plays Stuart’s father, Gena Davis his mother, and a REALLY annoying kid plays his brother (he’s whiny).
Along with the voice cast is Nathan Lane as Snowbell the cat – Stuart’s nemesis-turned-friend from the first film – Melanie Griffith as a bird, and James Woods as a killer hawk.
“Stuart Little 2” is better than the first mainly because it is more fun. However, it is still not a great film by any standards. First, I’ll point out some things I didn’t like about the first:
No one seems to think it is odd that Stuart is a mouse – I know it’s a children’s film and it’s supposed to be like that, but a BIT of credibility would have been nice.
The whole thing with him being a mouse – it was trying to give us a preachy message that looks don’t count and what’s on the inside does. This is true, but the film preaches it the whole way through and it gets old.
Now, “II” carries a lot of those traits, but not as much. It is more of an adventure, not a sappy film with an underlying message. That is why I enjoyed it more.
I think it’s a bit sad that Michael J. Fox has not been in a single live-action film since his leave from “Spin City” (save a cameo in an independent film). I feel sorry for him because I have always enjoyed his performances – he was perfect for “Back to the Future,” and he even made horrible films like “Teen Wolf” fun to watch. That is why I am sad that the only thing I can hear from him nowadays is his voice coming out of the mouth of a mouse. Not only that, but all the animated films he’s been in are AWFUL (“Atlantis” was one of the worst of 2001).
Nathan Lane is an enjoyable actor, and he fits Snowbell quite well. I think that he was definitely the perfect choice for the fluffy cat.
And as for James Woods…he was great. I have always enjoyed his performances in film as well, and seeing him as a hawk was a bit more than odd; but at the same time it was refreshingly fun.
|
|
|
