REVIEW: ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’
As I walked out of the theatre after watching “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, I was overwhelmed by the number of people saying, “The book was better.”
Well, I should certainly hope so!
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RCC Rating: You’ve Got Better Things To Do |
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is written by Jackie and Jeff Filgo, Gabe Sachs, and Jeff Judah. It is based off of the book series written by Jeff Kinney, and stars Zachary Gordon (“Madagascar 2″) and Robert Capron (“Hachi: A Dog’s Tale”). It follows Greg Heffley, an “unpopular” boy who is trying to climb up the social ladder and earn a spot in the yearbook as a class favorite, and it follows his “adventures” with his best friend, Rowley Jefferson.
As I did my research, I realized something: all of the writers are previously known for adult comedy shows. Shows that, as not an adult, I find to be extremely stupid. Jackie and Jeff are known for writing a few episodes of “That 70s Show”, and the entirety of “Peep Show”. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah are both known for writing quite a few episodes of “90210″. Oh, joy.
I will be frank: I hate middle school movies. With a fiery passion. They all force the same unrealistic, exaggerated, old-fashioned, cruel stereotypes on middle school life that I find stupid and just plain insulting. And, unfortunately, this movie has not escaped my flames. In fact, I think I might even be a little worse that some of the other movies I’ve watched. It had the same, vengeful bullies and teenagers that are rare in real life. And, unfortunately, just about every part of this movie is stamped by a predictable stereotype.
My first problem with this movie: the main character. He is a self-absorbed, unrepentant, stupid, unlearning, whiny little jerk who doesn’t appreciate or deserve the things he is given. He goes through the whole movie without learning a single thing, even at the end of the movie. Something can be said for consistence, I suppose. He also has an inflated, almost narcissistic way of looking at himself and other people. Even when he ends up doing things that he knows full well are wrong, he doesn’t apologize, and simply tries to rationalize it all away.
Greg’s brother, Rodrick (played by Devon Bostick, formerly in “Saw VI” and “Saw IV”) is a mean-natured, over-bearing, unlikeable, stereotypical teenage boy who enjoys torturing his little brother. I should know: teenage siblings are mischievous, and messing around with our younger siblings is quite enjoyable, but this boy takes it to a new, fake level.
I almost feel bad; everyone around me did, but I didn’t laugh once throughout the whole movie. This is because all of the humor was typical middle school “that kid” humor. I can’t even begin to list the ways that makes me mad, but most of them revolve around the fact that I was “that kid” on multiple occasions. It was repulsive. It’s the kind of humor I think can only really be thought up by people who have no clue what middle school is like in this day and age.
And yet, despite all of this, I was bored. I wanted to get up and leave, and as soon as it was over, I wanted to bleach it from my mind forever. Unfortunately, I have to write a review, so that isn’t an option.
So, I think this is a movie that you shouldn’t even bother with. It might appeal to people under the age of eight, but anyone older than that and it’s just insulting. As was made apparent by the people around me, it will be even more offensive to people who enjoyed the book, so this movie doesn’t really appeal to anyone.
And let’s just leave it at that.
