The rabbit fans had to wait far too long for this PETER HASE 2 – A RABBIT LEAVES FROM THE FIELD the adventures of the long-eared bird of the same name are told. Now the time has finally come and the result seamlessly follows on from its predecessor not only in terms of content but also in terms of quality. We reveal more about this in our review.
OT: Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
The plot
After the nerve-wracking events of the past, Bea (Rose Byrne), Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) and the rabbit gang, led by the cheeky but lovable Peter Rabbit (Christoph Maria Herbst), have made peace as a family. But even if he tries hard, Peter just can’t get rid of his reputation as a little sleazeball. Something that suits Thomas very well, as he is still not completely convinced about the unusual family constellation. When he embarks on an exciting adventure outside the garden, he finds himself on the streets of the big city in an environment where his mischievous nature is well received. But when his four-legged friends find themselves in danger, Peter has to ask himself what kind of bunny he wants to be.
criticism
“Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Gets Away”, the sequel to the 2018 book adaptation “Peter Rabbit”, was actually supposed to be released in cinemas in April 2020. But then, as is well known, everything turned out completely differently and for over a year the international film news was in overdrive with the announcement of cinema release postponements. But while the main focus here was on the major franchise continuations of the “Fast & Furious 9” or “Black Widow” brand, as well as on the eagerly anticipated mega-productions à la “Dune”, the continuous backward move of “Peter Rabbit 2” (from April to August 2020 and finally June 2021) is hardly worth a special report to any medium. The predecessor performed extremely well at the box office with over 350 million US dollars with production costs of just 50 million; Otherwise there wouldn’t have been a sequel. Just imagine this “Oh what!” justification for a sequel in a decidedly flippant way in the voice of Christoph Maria Herbst (“Stromberg – The Movie”) before, and lo and behold: this is roughly how you can once again imagine the humorous style of “Peter Rabbit 2”. Because here too, the sense and nonsense of film sequels are discussed. For example, at one point in the film Peter judges the title of the book “Peter Rabbit 2” of his foster mother Bea’s second novel: “Nice title! Hints there will be more. If not, that’s okay too. It’s nice that we’ve come this far.” And this statement not only perfectly summarizes the tone of the film, but also the inherent satisfaction with which everyone involved presents their work – somewhere between the pride that all the madness of the first part worked and the ambition to dare a little more.
While Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) grows tomatoes, his wife Bea (Rose Byrne) continues to devote herself to art.
Before the first “Peter Rabbit” film was released, no one could have known what the exact direction of the first screen adaptation of the popular Beatrix Potter novel from 1902 would be. After all, this is primarily a completely harmless children’s book, but the trailer announced otherwise. To illustrate the humor of the production, we were drawn to the comparison that Will Gluck’s film adaptation was a mixture of “Paddington” and “Deadpool”. And in fact, three years later, nothing has changed and no description could better summarize how the clocks tick in “Peter Rabbit”. On the whole, the films are about the fact that a cuddly bunny named Peter, who also hides a lot of mischief behind his long ears, and his bunny siblings experience various adventures, grow beyond themselves and, in particular, Peter tries to clear his name after it always has caused a lot of unrest again. Standard family humor – with as much slapstick as loving messages; For example, the first part illustrated the meaning and importance of forgiving one another. As with pretty much every (Hollywood) sequel, there was a fear that the makers would overdo it this time if they made it show the classic “higher, faster, further!” mentality. Especially since you can like it when a popular character is put in a setting for another story (in this case: from his home garden to the middle of the big city), but it’s not uncommon that some of the charm of the original is lost as a result. But don’t worry: In “Peter Rabbit 2” a large part of the action takes place outside of Peter’s home garden, but there is always enough to return to the original roots. And this is to be understood both in terms of content and geography.
“Will Gluck’s film adaptation of ‘Peter Rabbit’ is a mixture of ‘Paddington’ and ‘Deadpool’. And in fact, three years later, nothing has changed and no description could better summarize how the clocks tick in ‘Peter Rabbit’.”
Peter Rabbit’s adventures in the big city, initially without Bea and Thomas, but also without his rabbit siblings (he has to find out what position he wants to take in the film, sorry: in his family), only make up a fraction of the story. And that’s just as well. Because even if the film is directed by David Oyelowo in an excellent, subliminal, sleazy way (“Chaos Walking”) embodied book publisher makes every effort to persuade Bea to let the rabbit stories she has written take place in more sensational places than a green garden (beach, space – WINK!), author and director Will Gluck counteracts (“Annie”) and his co-writer Patrick Burleigh make their own demands. They do this at the point where Bea is seriously worried about it “The integrity of their history is preserved and no consumption is made of it. Probably from an American!” (WINK, WINK!). In short: “Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Gets Away” comments on his film and sequel existence on the storyline that deals with Bea’s career as a writer – and she and her husband Thomas not only have to consider whether they want to pursue it with a lot of love They want to throw the characters they’ve designed into the spotlight of commerce (the potential merchandise alone is overwhelming!), or want to preserve the intimacy of their stories based on real-life events. But ultimately “Peter Rabbit” wouldn’t be “Peter Rabbit” if this subplot not only made fun of the entire film itself, but also itself as a subplot (META, META!); And so in the end the film gets exactly the outrageous action finale that Bea and Thomas previously made fun of. And this much can be revealed: not even “Fast & Furious 9” presented its outrageous ideas as amusingly as “Peter Rabbit 2” does here.
The gang’s goal: buckets of dried fruit!
But even “Peter Rabbit” back then would have been done an injustice by reducing him solely to his meta-humoristic level. Things are no different with “Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Runs Away”. Because in addition to all the successful adult gags, some of which are perhaps exhausted for a little too long, others of which don’t quite make sense when they return (for example, there is a running gag regarding the currently prevailing fitness, high-protein and… Nutrition hype that leads nowhere), Will Gluck and his team once again deliver a wonderfully anarchic slapstick non-stop that the younger audience will also have a lot of fun with. The very first scene, in which a wedding celebration gets completely out of hand, gives a foretaste of what is to come. And at the latest when all the animals in the forest (including the fox from part one, who in part two now eats a vegan diet and is drilled by a personal trainer) gather around Peter and his band of rabbits and not a stone (or a stone) is involved in a wild dried fruit rescue operation better: leave no market stall unturned, not one eye stays dry. The new arrivals, on the other hand, can’t make quite as big of an impression this time. In addition to Peter’s city acquaintance Barnabas, an old friend of his father, his backwoods buddies can only stand out to a limited extent. The fact that a seedy street animal community consists of, among other things, battered-looking cats doesn’t win any originality awards. This constellation of characters benefits from one or two story twists. It’s damn fun to see what exit the story will take next.
“But even ‘Peter Rabbit’ back then would have been done an injustice by reducing him solely to his meta-humoristic level. Things are no different with ‘Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Runs Away’. Because in addition to all the successful adult gags, Will Gluck and his team once again deliver a wonderfully anarchic slapstick non-stop.”
In the best cases, films designed for the whole family also deliver a clever message to their audience. In “Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Runs Away” this cannot be identified very clearly; Except perhaps that anyone who intends to make their own created works known to a wider audience needs to be careful. However, if you take a closer look, Will Gluck’s work is once again a remarkably honest treatise about interpersonal relationships and about the fact that people (and rabbits) should not be reduced to a single character trait. Perhaps this morally pleasing approach sometimes falls behind between the excessive slapstick interludes. But anyone who has already seen part one knows that sometimes just a few seconds are enough to discover the heart beneath all the fun (back then it was the touching image of the bunnies apologizing to each other by pressing their heads against each other). And there’s a lot of both in “Peter Rabbit 2”.
Conclusion: Anarchic fun, great emotional cinema and lots of meta jokes: “Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Runs Away” is in no way inferior to its fantastic predecessor and is once again a wonderfully chaotic family adventure, which this time is particularly great for the big ones in the audience has to offer.
“Peter Rabbit 2 – A Rabbit Runs Away” can be seen in USA cinemas from July 1, 2021.
