My Movie Review on Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (Plus, a Bonus) · 5:27pm Apr 12th, 2023
Greetings and salutations, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway".
Here's the rundown of this sequel:
One month after the marriage between Thomas McGregor and Bea, Peter Rabbit has gained newfound fame for being the star of a book Bea wrote about him and his relatives. The book in question has become so popular that a publisher named Nigel Basil Jones wants to distribute it worldwide.
However, after Peter notices that the book's readers are classifying him as "naughty", even going so far as to call him "The Bad Seed", he begins to wonder if it's worth trying to be a better rabbit and staying in Thomas's good graces. When he later meets an older rabbit named Barnabas, who often steals food in order to make a living, Peter also wonders if being naughty is really such a bad thing.
Meanwhile, Bea struggles with living up to the interests of Nigel and his publishing company after they start making their own suggestions for a potential book series. And due to being an orphan for much of his life, Thomas wonders if he's truly a wonderful husband for Bea or if he'll ever be a great father when they eventually have children.
Three years ago, I reviewed the first movie and rated it four stars. Several months later, I gave the film a re-analyzing and changed the rating to 4½ out of 5 stars. Now, I'm finally gonna give an analysis of its sequel and fulfill the three year wait.
"Peter Rabbit 2" is one out of several sequels that I've been planning on making a review of for quite a while but never found the time because I was interested in other things more. But, I think I'll finally find the time to review the sequels of other movies I watched since my list isn't as stacked as before. And believe me, there's tons of catching up I've gotta do franchise-wise.
But, anyway, here are my thoughts on this sequel:
The one thing I will admit is that there were jokes in this movie that I found to be either unfunny or just distracting. The jokes in question were dialogue-based ones that seemed to reference the negative reactions towards the first trailer of this sequel's predecessor and some certain ironies regarding both films, such as this one ironic joke that referenced the fact that both movies were directed and co-written by American filmmaker Will Gluck.
On a completely different subject, I also realized that Felix D'eer is my least favorite character of the Peter Rabbit film series. He wasn't terrible to where he'd be a reason for my ultimate rating, but even on that ground, Felix was too much of a brainless and one-dimensional idiot for me to actually care for.
Outside of these nitpicks, though, I really must say that this sequel was a deeply fun and worthwhile successor of the first film.
For instance, the direction by Will Gluck, and the story by him and Patrick Burleigh, were amazingly well-done.
Aside from the film's use of self-referential humor, there were still tons of jokes that were openly hysterical to watch. The slapstick had an energy and liveliness that made even the most over-the-top ones entertaining, and the situational humor had an innocence that made it too irresistible to pass over. The emotional resonance and heart the filmmakers incorporated was also deeply soul-tugging, and the morals and themes were brilliantly executed and accomplished.
The special effects were spectacular, if I may add.
I realize that I apparently didn't comment on this aspect in my review of the first film, and my only guess is that it may have had something to do with starting out as a reviewer at the time. But, I thought the effects of the first film were absolutely mind-blowing, and the quality of the CGI animals in this sequel was even better than the last. It truly looked like the various characters by Beatrix Potter were able to come out of their books to star in this movie, and that there were actual animals who talk and wear clothes!
Finally, the voice acting and onscreen performances, the characters, and the character development were fantastic.
When it comes to the human-visible performances, it's hard to deny that Domhnall Gleeson was as awesome as ever in the role of Thomas McGregor. The way he tackled all of the slapstick comedy and physically-demanding moments showed that he wasn't afraid of taking risks, even if it meant breaking a bone. His comedic-timings were also very spot-on, and he imbued his character with so much emotion and heart. Likewise, Rose Byrne was wonderful in her reprisal of Bea. I mean, her performance in the first movie was great too, but in this sequel...she literally topped her previous performance off by adding a greater amount of depth and dimension. Both Thomas and Bea had dynamic developments as well.
Voice acting-wise, James Corden in particular was marvelous in his reprisal of Peter Rabbit. Regardless of how many reviewers of the first film thought Corden was miscast, I believed he was the right guy for the part, and in this sequel...he not only managed to fit right back into the role, but he significantly improved his portrayal and interpretation. His comedic-timings were in-tune and didn't detract from the various scenes featuring Peter, and he imbued his performance with a greater amount of emotion, heart, and depth. Peter himself developed splendidly throughout this sequel, and I loved how the filmmakers improved the character by making him even more lovable and sympathetic. Plus, Lennie James was terrific in the role of Barnabas. With his voice and portrayal alone, James gave Barnabas an unpredictability that made the character someone the audiences and other characters wouldn't know what to expect from, and he added it all with a street-wise personality and humor that perfectly reflected Barnabas as a homeless thief. Barnabas himself was a perfect alternate reflection of Peter, and he developed quite well as a character.
In conclusion, "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" isn't an entirely flawless film, but it's a brilliant sequel to the first film. It's funny, heartfelt, and contains stupendous performances and characters.
So, I rate "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" 4½ out of 5 stars.
Before I conclude this post, I'd like to share with you guys another original painting I made a while back:
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And my painting?
