The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

Review by Bob Ignizio

In this week’s unnecessary sequel department, we’ve got THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE. Here’s your plot: Since rascally squirrel Surly (voice of Will Arnett) and his pals took over the nut shop in the first NUT JOB, the animals of Liberty Park have become a little too complacent. Only the more responsible squirrel Andie (Katherine Hegl) realizes that by relying on the stores of food at the shop, the critters are losing their natural ability to find food on their own.

And wouldn’t you know it, she’s right. When the nut shop blows up, Surly tries to find another easy source of sustenance, while Andie rallies her own faction of furballs to get back to nature. Both approaches run into trouble, however, in the form of a bribe taking mayor/real estate developer (Bobby Moynihan). He wants to tear out the unproductive green space where all the critters live, and put in an amusement park.

This is nothing more and nothing less than C-grade kiddie fare. Lots of jokes and wacky hijinks, but only about a third of the attempts at humor come even close to landing. The plot is tired and obvious, and there’s just an overall lack of inspiration to the proceedings. About the only nice thing I can say is it doesn’t seem nearly as crass and calculated as THE EMOJI MOVIE. Beyond that, I can tell you my 6 year-old son enjoyed it, but that's not saying much since he has yet to see an animated kiddie flick he didn't like. 2 out of 4 stars.