The Angry Birds Movie 2 Movie Review

“The Angry Birds Movie 2” is a movie sequel from the first version spawned out of a cell phone app video game. After you let that sink in, you may have questions. Was a video app enough to create the foundations for a full animated movie? And is there enough gas in that tank to take it around the block a second time? If you squint your eyes just right, and drop off your expectations in the lobby – then you can see for yourself. They actually did create an amusing little comedy full of awkward antics and some bird and pig humor. You might not be lining up to fill out your Academy Awards ballots, but the Angry Birds are fun, and they do not give you the bird.

Based on the game (and based on the first movie “The Angry Birds Movie“), the story is Bird Island is peaceful until the Pigs come around. The Pigs fool the Birds into thinking they want to live in harmony. But all they really want to do is steal the eggs. I wonder if they had planned to serve the eggs with Bacon? But there is a battle and a Hero Bird arises and leads the Birds into combat with the untrustworthy Pigs. Ok then – Red (Jason Sudeikis) is the Bird that leads the others on Bird Island. He works along side Chuck (Josh Gad) and Bomb (Danny McBride). These three sought help from Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage), who at first flaked out, but came back in the end help save the day. Then there is also a very intelligent Bird named Silver (Rachel Bloom), who is the smartest one around and is a true leader.

The Pigs are led by King Leonard (Bill Hader), who has assistance from Courtney (Awkwafina) and genius designer Gerry Pig (Sterling K. Brown). But in this movie, the Pigs on Pig Island are under attack from a new menace. There are ice balls hurled onto the Island from a cold desolate place. This is Eagle Island, run with a cruel heart by Zeta (Leslie Jones) and her sidekick Debbie (Tiffany Haddish).  Together they want to take out Pig Island and Bird Island. The Pigs reach out to Red and his friends in a show of unity so they can work together. Bird and Pig distrust runs deep, but when there is a common enemy, they decide to work as a team.

But before you can say ‘avian antics’ and ‘porcine predicaments’, the well-laid plans turn out to be worthless. Zeta has a secret agenda, and she will stop at nothing to her former lover back. Red is attracted to Silver, and wants nobody to know it (even when they all do know it). Leonard is pretty clueless, but he has some Pigs who come through to help in the end – even if the Pigs do not need to placed in a Blanket. Mighty Eagle has a long-ago relationship that he would prefer to forget, but that all changes when he sees Zeta once again.

There is a silly side plot about three little hatchling Birds. They mess around with some Bird eggs (“My little sisters”, one of them proudly proclaims). The story is a little way out there at times, and it shows the odd (but endearing) humor of this movie. The jokes and visual puns in the movie are pretty clever at times. There is a lot of humorous music cues from a lot of artists. Many of them are obvious, but they get a chuckle when you hear it. The voice acting is good enough to shake your tail feathers. The visuals are clear and crisp, very clean – looking nothing like a Pig Sty.

After the hatred in the first movie, the two sides learn to compromise – to paraphrase “Ghostbusters”:

Bird 1: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…

Pig 1: The dead rising from the grave!

Bird 2: Human sacrifice, Birds and Pigs working together… mass hysteria!​

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