Review Guy Online- Stuart Little 2 (2002)

Review of:Stuart Little 2 (2002)

Director:Rob Minkoff

Rating:PG for brief mild language

Starring:Michael J. Fox, Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki, Steve Zahn

Official Site

Stuart Little is back, and in a big way. Voiced by Michael J. Fox the little mouse must save his new friend Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith) from the perilous Falcon. Also back is the cast of characters that made the first Stuart Little such a big success.

This film tries to develop around some themes that many children face today. The first theme or moral is that you should stick by your friends no matter what. The second theme is speaking more to the parents than the children. It deals with letting go of our children so that they can develop their own identity. We find out through the film that this is sometimes hard to do.

In this age and day it feels like it is hard to do either one. Maybe it takes a film like this to show us things that we know in our hearts. The news is filled with children having crimes committed against them. It is hard to not to be overprotective. The times of leaving your door unlocked while you sleep are gone. This movie tries to awaken us from our fear of our neighbor. It speaks of community, and watching out for your fellow men.

Stuart livse by these old world rules. Just take one look at his family and you can understand where he gets it from. They are accepting of him even though he is a mouse, and still love him. Stuart is just a reflection of his environment. When he sees someone else in need or in want he is going to help.

The story deals with these subjects very well for the first hour. The story goes something like this. Stuart and his brother George Little (Jonathan Lipnicki) have grown older, and have started to define themselves in different ways. By their friends, their extracurricular activities,etc.. They still love each other, but their world has grown to include a greater base of friends. George seems more adept at this than Stuart which leaves our little hero on his own more than not. Stuart needs a friend, and he thinks he has found her in the adorable bird Margalo. Margalo seems to be all peaches and cream until you look a little deeper. Like a puppeteer somebody is pulling her strings, which makes for an interesting story. Can Stuart help his friend, and can she be helped.

While this plot might seem to be a bit much for its target audience the film does have some fun times. Most of it is provided by the cat Snowball (voiced by Nathan Lane). Snowball picks up easily where he left off in the first movie providing one liners that have the adults laughing as much as the children.

The Little family is a throw back to families such as Leave it to Beaver. They are a nice, and loving family. Not Roseannean at all. Geena Davis does a terrific job as Eleanor Little. She gives off a sweetness while being even hotter than the Beaves mom. Coming straight off a sixties show is the perfect father Fredrerik Little (Hugh Laurie). New to the ensemble is Martha Little (played by twins Anna, Ashley Hoelk) the baby of the group. Together they make up the Littles. While Margalo is with the Littles she sees a different kind of world. A world that shows a family caring about one another, and caring about her. A beautiful thing indeed. If not for the predictable action scenes at the end the film would have been a total winner. Even with that little pothole it is a solid family film.