Director: Matt Danner
Writer: Jeff Kinney
Stars: Aaron D. Harris, Chris Diamantopoulos, Bashir Salahuddin
Synopsis: Greg continually finds himself at odds with his dad’s outsized expectations. As pressure builds to turn his act around after a series of hilarious near disasters, Greg’s dad presents him with an ultimatum—and a trip to wilderness camp—that just might challenge Greg’s wimpy ways for good.
While watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Christmas Cabin Fever in 2023, a feeling of dread slowly started creeping into me, as I suddenly realized, “Disney can’t be making these flimsy animated movies forever, can they?” Because the animated transpositions of Jeff Kinney’s popular book series took a one-year hiatus in 2024, I had foolishly thought The Mouse had put an end to what could’ve been a promising way to adapt Kinney’s work, without having to recast live-action actors as they grow old consistently, but it was ultimately disappointing endeavor that served to only mindlessly adapt the books, without trying anything different outside of its surface. The prior live-action works (minus The Long Haul) had a massive cultural imprint, as they were released a few years after the books took off. The animated franchise has never been able to recapture the same feeling, preferring to illustrate its bevy of humorous stories with the laziest, second-rate designs possible, without meaningfully expanding upon Kinney’s text.
There’s very little creativity in these movies, and the task of watching these admittedly short installments seems more like a chore than something you look forward to every holiday season. This latest effort, a semi-adaptation of The Last Straw, is just as boring as the other three entries in Disney’s most unimpressive modern-day animated works. That said, credit needs to be given to director Matt Danner (who previously helmed the unwatchable Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again for the streamer) for at least trying to make Greg Heffley’s (Aaron D. Harris) latest adventure more expressive in its stretching and squashing than the desire to be animated but never do anything with the medium of the first three movies of this “reboot.”
The animation flows much better – and is more vivid – in sequences where Greg’s “wimpy” antics blow out of proportion, which makes this entry more serviceable than the last films we got out of this series, meant to promote Kinney’s books but did nothing genuinely interesting with them. Kinney once again takes screenwriting duties, and his words aren’t as sharp (or resonant) as they are in his books, because the film lacks any form of verve, even if Danner is more interested in making this animated entry feel like…*checks notes*…an animated movie than the previous filmmakers who were tapped to helm these forgettable titles and did nothing with the prospect of an animated adaptation of these highly imaginative books.
It still doesn’t change the fact that these movies aren’t remotely good, and this latest installment isn’t either, although it has a more concise story than the previous three movies, deciding to focus on Greg’s relationship with his father, Frank (Chris Diamantopoulos), rather than other characters from the books. For example, Greg’s friendship with Rowley (Jude Zarzuar) falls by the wayside, while Danner and Kinney further flesh out how Greg and Frank feel towards each other. Frank wants to send his son to military school so he can be whipped into shape, while Greg gives his father an ultimatum: if he reaches the badge of Woodchipper Elite at his Scouting club, he’s off the hook. If not, he’ll accept his Father’s choice to send him to Spag Union, the military academy.
Of course, several antics ensue, but they’re all indifferently bland, even if Danner’s semi-piquant style is more energetic than the previous three entries of this franchise. For once, there’s movement and attempts at expressivity. That said, it’s completely far removed from Disney’s current big-screen animated effort, Zootopia 2, which stimulates the senses for both young and old moviegoers alike in frequently jaw-dropping ways. There isn’t a single image in the animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise, apart from Kinney’s hand-drawn drawings transposed to the screen, that stays with us. It’s a series of mindlessly forgettable motion pictures that undoubtedly serve as “second screen” entertainment, where the primary goal is to distract children for an hour and 15 minutes or so, rather than giving them something substantial to be transported by.
Story-wise, it’s as “been there, done that” as you think, unable to bring its message home more effectively than simple morals that will leave your head as soon as they enter. There’s rarely anything of note in this, other than a light chuckle or two when Danner (or Kinney) reference more popular IPs, making you yearn to watch these titles instead of wasting your time with movies that haven’t improved, four entries in, and likely won’t, since they keep churning them out rapidly, as if audiences are clamoring for them when less and less of them are tuning in with each passing installment.
Kids deserve so much better than this. The fact that parents will put them in front of a television to show them anything destined for children, as if their minds can’t comprehend what they’re seeing, is honestly contemptuous. They’re much smarter than you think and more averse to the world they’re living in than adults who were once in their shoes but have seemingly forgotten the magic of discovering life before it dawned upon them that this world is actually much harsher than they think. A film like Zootopia 2 will remind them of the joys of rediscovering cinema, as kids learn the true power of image-making and are consistently dazzled by what directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush put on the screen. A movie like Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw will do the exact opposite. They’ll be momentarily distracted, sure, but will they like what they’re seeing? Will it have any lasting impact? Let’s talk in two weeks from now…
