Movie Review : The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

FIRST and foremost, the original 2014 film, The Nut Job, was bad on many levels. So I was surprised that its creators decided to make a sequel.
But it is pretty obvious that this movie is targeted towards the Asian ­market through the creation of a new character – a grumpy, but cute, white mouse with kung fu skills called Mr Feng (voiced by Chan).
The story begins with Surly (Arnett), the annoying purple squirrel, living it up with his park animal friends in the basement of a bankrupt nut store as they gorge on the free, seemingly endless supply of nuts that were left behind.
Andie (Heigl), the red squirrel whom Surly likes, believes that the animals should continue to forage for food.
When the nut shop blows up, Andie wants them to go back to nature, but Surly, with help from his rat friend Buddy, looks for ­alternate food sources, with disastrous ­results.
However, the corrupt mayor of Oakton City (Bobby Moynihan) wants to replace the park with a more profitable amusement park.
When the animals try to fight back and save their home, they find themselves on the losing end, and Surly and Buddy must find a way to help them.
The best parts of the film are provided by Precious (Rudolph), Surly's pug friend who is forced to hook up with the mayor's ­daughter's dog Frankie (Bobby Cannavale), in order to help her friends escape.
The story is predictable, but it is much better that the sleep-inducing first movie. And there seems to be a lack of continuity with the first film, especially with Buddy now being mute in this film.
But go watch it as a standalone film, and you will be fine.