Peter Rabbit double feature review 4-6-24
Based on the children’s books by Beatrix Potter, this movie is about a troublemaking lagomorph named Peter Rabbit. Peter loves to steal vegetables from Mr. McGregor, even if it means getting caught or being threatened to be baked into a pie. One day, Mr. McGregor suddenly dies of a heart attack, so Peter and his family invade his house and have a wild party with fellow predators and prey. When Thomas hears about his uncle’s death, he gets to inherit the house. Unfortunately for Peter, he’s just as friendly as his uncle. Things get worse when Tom develops a crush on the friendly rabbit-loving neighbor Bea, so Peter and his friends decide to mess around with Tom until he returns to London.
Peter Rabbit is a middling kids movie with a meandering story, outstanding visual effects, a protagonist that can come across as unlikable, and jokes that don’t always land.
They copied a scene from Cinderella! |
What makes this movie special is that the animation was done at Animal Logic, the same studio that worked on Happy Feet, The LEGO Movie, and eventually Leo. If you ask me, the animators and modelers did a good job at bring Beatrix Potter’s creations to life.
Other than that, there isn’t much to say about Peter Rabbit. In conclusion, if you want to watch an animals vs humans movie, just stick with Over the Hedge.
In this movie, Bea, Thomas, and the rabbits have made piece as a family. Peter, however, can’t seem to shake his mischievous behavior. Adventuring out of the garden, Peter finds himself on the mean streets of the city where his mischief is appreciated. But when his family is put in danger, Peter must figure out what kind of bunny he wants a to be.
Despite having fantastic animation, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway still suffers from a meandering story, too many needle drops*, and a tone that once again deviates away from the source material.
Peter offering his siblings a rotten apple. |
If there’s one thing I liked about Peter Rabbit 2 other than the animation is the sub-plot with Bea. When she meets Nigel Basil-Jomes, he makes lots of changes, such as having the rabbits in her book wear jeans, play ukuleles, party on the beach, and even visit outer space! It’s a commentary on what happens when someone with a successful property gets too generous on making changes to what was already popular, even when it means tarnishing the brand.
For all those people out there who disliked the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, I dare them to see the Peter Rabbit films, as I believe they’re worse.
Rating (both movies): 2.8 stars out of 5
*For those unfamiliar, needle drop is a slang term for putting pre-existing songs in a movie. DreamWorks and Illumination do it a lot in their films, such as All Star, I’m a Believer, and Livin La Vida Loca in the Shrek films, I Like to Move It in the Madagascar films, Here Comes the Sun in Bee Movie, and You Should be Dancing in Despicable Me.