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Just a little more than 24 hours after watching this even cheaper sequel to the 2014 not-exactly-a-smash-hit-to-begin-with, it has already become a blur of frantic motion and attitude in my memory—the smirking “DreamWorks face” of marketing posters given a feature-length, non-DreamWorks manifestation. Will Arnett returns to voice Surly the squirrel, whose endless storehouse of nuts from the first movie burns to the ground, forcing him to return to scavenging in the park with fellow squirrel Andie (Katherine Heigl) and company, until the greedy mayor (Bobby Moynihan) decides to bulldoze it for an amusement park. Shenanigans ensue as the critters try to thwart construction efforts, but it’s kind of staggering how many of those shenanigans require dialogue to explain exactly how the audience should interpret any given moment: “Well this is embarrassing,” “That’s not good,” etc. It’s the kind of animated junk that believes loud relentlessness is an adequate substitute for imagination, humor or character development. On the other hand, you almost have to hand it to a movie that hands you a ready-made self-own line like, “You know, you’re not as funny as you think you are.”
Official Site: thenutjob.com
Director: Cal Brunker
Producer: Harry Linden, Jongsoo Kim, Youngki Lee, Jonghan Kim, Bob Barlen, Daniel Woo, Mike Karz, William Bindley, Hoejin Ha, Hong Kim, Zhao Wu and Hyungkon Kim
Cast: Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, Jackie Chan, Isabela Moner, Peter Stormare, Bobby Cannavale, Bobby Moynihan, Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias, Sebastian Maniscalco, Tom Kenny and Rob Tinkler
Director: Cal Brunker
Producer: Harry Linden, Jongsoo Kim, Youngki Lee, Jonghan Kim, Bob Barlen, Daniel Woo, Mike Karz, William Bindley, Hoejin Ha, Hong Kim, Zhao Wu and Hyungkon Kim
Cast: Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, Jackie Chan, Isabela Moner, Peter Stormare, Bobby Cannavale, Bobby Moynihan, Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias, Sebastian Maniscalco, Tom Kenny and Rob Tinkler
