Peter Rabbit 2:The Runaway

The film opens (and closes) pretty much as you’d expect from the conclusion of the first with the wedding of Bea (Rose Byrne) and Thomas (Domhnall Gleeson) with Potter’s animal characters all in attendance.

Peter (James Corden) takes umbrage at a comment and launches into an all-out assault on Thomas bringing all the other animals in it for a few moments of mayhem. It’s all a daydream (but it’s telling) and the wedding goes off without a hitch.

They settle down to married life running their arts and crafts shop that also sells Bea’s illustrated books telling her stories of the rabbits’ adventures. These get the attention of a smug publisher Nigel Basil-Jones (David Oyelowo) who invites them (with rabbits in tow) to London. Basil Jones initially happy with the books dangles lucrative opportunities in front of Bea that will make her rich by compromising on her creations.

In the meantime a mishap sees Peter getting involved with villainous animals led by tough guy rabbit Barnabas (Lennie James). This leads to a contrived series of events which gets the rest of the animals out of the country and into town for it to end the only way it can.

The problems that afflicted the first film are still present: the lead character remains deeply unlike-able, fundamentally undermining the film. He’s too smarmy to be the proffered loveable rogue having a palpable mean spirit about him - the daydream. Which is at odds with the rest of the CGI animal cast who are far more appealing having a delightful mischievousness about them.

There’s also a sense of overkill as the film is riddled with overextended and overcooked puns; there’s a pinched tomato gag, and a scene later on in the publishers that are run into the ground.

Director Will Gluck (co-written with Patrick Burleigh) have strived for satire aiming at pretence of farmers markets and both the film and publishing industry with a breeze block.

They play with Bea and Thomas’s relationship with the rabbits; is it all in their heads, or can the animals actually talk. That is quite interesting it’s just buried by the other more bruising aspects of the film. In some respects, there isn’t much more to it than numerous set pieces which while being fast and frantic are very tiring leaving the film looking and feeling oddly padded.

There are a number of meta asides one about Peter’s annoying voice, inadvertently acknowledging that it could be a problem. There’s a fair few of these types of interjections that don’t add or subtract from the overall enjoyment of the film.

The writers can’t be blamed for trying to bring this character up to date and into the modern world while trying to be true to some aspect its rural literary origins. In the end however this is an undoubtedly well animated, arch, largely formulaic film.