'The Nut Job 2' Trailer: Dancing Squirrels And Farting Pugs And Everything Else You'd Expect
The Nut Job 2 trailer is here and it wants to ask all of the important questions. Questions like "Will nature rise to the occasion and declare war on humanity when we descend on one too many precious ecosystems?" and "Is the world tired of CG-animated dancing animals yet?" and "Are farting pugs worthy preview-capping jokes?" Let's try to answer 'em.
The sequel to 2014's The Nut Job (which has the distinction of being one of the most financially successful independent animated movies), The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature continues the adventures of Surly the squirrel, a streetwise rodent with the voice of Will Arnett and the color palette of a three-year old's crayon drawing of a squirrel she saw in the backyard once and doesn't remember very well. In this particular adventure, Surely must lead his fellow animals against an obese mayor with a deep-fried southern accent who plans to turn their home into an amusement park. Shenanigans ensue.
Like many animated movies these days, the voice cast of The Nut Job 2 consists of whatever people would return the producers' phone calls. In this case, Katherine Heigl, Jackie Chan, Jeff Dunham, Bobby Cannavale, Maya Rudolph, and Gabriel Iglesias all voice animals. Bobby Moynihan and Peter Stormare voice a few treacherous, disgusting, loathsome humans who dared to mess with mother nature.
Look, it's quite clear that this movie isn't for me and it's quite clear that this movie isn't for the parents who anticipate Pixar and Disney movies as much as their children. This is a movie made for kids, 90 minutes of colors and noise and farts and gags that will keep a child preoccupied while mom and dad sneak away to have an adult conversation for the first time in two weeks. And that's perfectly fine.
But to answer the questions proposed at the top of this article: Yes, nature will rise to the occasion and declare war on humanity when we descend on one too many precious ecosystems and they will do so by chewing on the exact wires that cause construction equipment to flip; No, the world is not tired of CG-animated dancing animals yet because just look at the box office haul of Sing; and no, farting pugs are not worthy as preview-capping jokes and I say that as someone who wrote too many words about funny farting dogs in a completely different movie.
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature opens on August 18, 2017.