Review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012) by Tyler M — 22 Dec 2012

Greg Heffley and his friends are back in for some summer fun (and torture). This time, the titular wimpy kid (Zachary Gordon) wants to have the best summer ever, but he his wimpiness gets the better of him when he tries to persue the hot girl in his class, joins a country club with Rowley (Robert Capron), tries to bond with his father Frank (Steve Zahn in a career best performance) and wreaks havoc with his rockstar brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick).

I am a fan of this franchise. They always have been good family entertainment, even if they won't win any awards and aren't the world's most perfect films (heaven forbid any film should be perfect). The sweet nature of the third film made me really like it, but some of the plot points, though interesting kind of were too "adult" per se. Like the scene where Greg loses his trunks while on the diving board at the public pool (oops, mild spoilers), but luckily the script by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky, who previously wrote for The Larry Sanders Show and The Simpsons respectively, keeps everything in check with fun scenes, cute characters and some pretty great humor, though I felt that the first one was the funniest one.

Steve Zahn is terrific. This film focuses primarily on the Greg/Frank relationship and works well as a father/son redemption movie, much like Finding Nemo or Night at the Museum, both movies I am a fan of.

I for one am glad that the Wimpy Kid crew improved on Rodrick Heffley's character, turning him from a jerk in the first film into a very cool guy.

**1/2 out of ****.

FINAL VERDICT: 64%.