Recently I put up a Rendy Revisit of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which was a film franchise that played a huge part of a childhood for I saw every single one of them in a theater.
SERIES OPININATED RECAP HERE:
https://rendyreviews.com/revisit//rendy-revisits-the-diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-trilogy
Now 5 years after the last cast, its time for a reboot. Literally, the time gap is as long as Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman rebooting to Andrew Garfield Andrew Garfield. I mean if Spiderman can get a reboot, why can't Greg Heffley? I have to be unbiased with this film since a lot of things about it changed from its cast to its Peanuts type score suite that opens the film changed. That score is sort of iconic to me! BUT I WILL BE UNBIASED!
The movie has some genuinely funny scenes. There a nice little sequence where the entire family conspires against Rodrick in a game called "I confess" where they get him to admit to all the bad things he’s done and deny. A lot of the elements of the movie is faithful to its source material. Every moment in the film is taken out of the book and it's amazing how much material is able to get adapted into something that is feature length.
So you know that #notmyrodrick thing? Well……they’re right. Somehow Rodrick turned from a comedic ******* to a full on ******. Charlie Wright does try his best to portray Rodrick, but he’s never fully able to fill in the shoes Devon Bostick left off. Bostick was Rodrick because of his performance and the material that was given to him. This also goes for Tom Everett Scott who never comes close to Steve Zahn’s Frank Heffley. I’m sorry, but the reason I’m attached to Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley more was because of his charisma and his zany performance that thoroughly kept you entertained especially with the second and third film. Tom Everett Scott, on the other hand, does not have that comedic chops that Zahn because he does not have a comedic background. Steve Zahn is a comedic actor who knew what this character was because he was no different to the characters he played in the past. Scott on the other hand never had a transition to comedy because nearly everything he’s was in the past was a drama. The entire time, he just looks awkward and out of place.
But it's great that you fixed your lead character, but did you maintain your comedy from the other movies? No? DAMN IT! Though Greg is a likable character, the movie also ultimately loses its comedic value. The first three movies never relied on poop or pee jokes. It did aim for gross-out humor involving boogers but barely revolving around bodily functions. From watching all three movies, only the first one had a huge pee joke that was honestly laugh-out-loud funny. This movie relies on that bodily function humor WAY TOO DAMN MUCH! They’re not funny, they’re not clever.
FULL REVIEW HERE:
https://rendyreviews.com/movies//diary-of-a-wimpy-kid-the-long-haul-review
