Peter Rabbit 2 (2021)

This has been screening now for many, many months in theaters, and is also now out on Blu-ray and DVD. I saw this at a Movies 4 Juniors screening with the young lady, neither of us having seen the original due to, frankly, its putrid critical response (my daughters words). It's a relief to report then, that Peter Rabbit 2 is utterly harmless and has a real charm of its own. Basterdising children's TV shows is something I've mentioned before, and supposedly this film's predecessor was particularly guilty of that. It's great to see then, that the filmmakers have taken these criticisms on board, using them to bash themselves in the sequel in an impressively self aware fashion. The film makes jokes at its own expense, mentioning money grabbing franchises, and even the plot of the film revolves around Bea (Rose Byrne essentially playing Beatrix Potter) creating her own Peter Rabbit book but trying not to bow down to the publishers insistence on 'selling out' to make more money with a sequel. I laughed several times; there's a moment when two rabbits are put in a cage that's lined with a copy of The Guardian newspaper, a joke that's funny on its own, but also works so brilliantly within the context of the film's refusal to take itself seriously in 2021, satirising The Guardian's readership in a way that means by complaining about the joke proves that the joke works. It's not all good, James Corden's voice is not a great choice in the title role but the film even pokes fun at that fact itself. Of course you can accuse Peter Rabbit 2 of immunising itself against criticism for the self-immolation approach it takes, but even though I haven't seen the first film, this would appear to be a perfect response to the opprobrium that the first film received. It also completely works on the level of holding the attention of kids; in the screening I attended, there was plenty of laughter and a distinct lack of toilet breaks. 6.0/10