Stuart Little 2

Review by Clint Morris

My two cats' love mice. They love them so much, they'll brush them paw first into the air, use them as a soccer ball and, sooner or later, give them a backlot tour of their tummy.

The larger and more voluptuous of my cat's bought a divine little squeak-ster into the house last year, ever so proud that she had caught something.

As you would expect, the younger of the cat's thought it was a toy to share, and tormented the quarry like it was a Salem City Witch Burning.

Within weeks, another was caught, and another. Last Week, they ardently meowed at the door for our attention again. Yep - they'd caught another mouse. Only this time, the duo was obviously famished and saw it as a meal. Head first; the little one came face to face with the inside of my meowing felines.

The moral of this story… There really isn't anyone, except to say that if the Stuart Little movies were based on real movies, the cat of the movie wouldn't sit back and let his diminutive rodent friend live happily among his owners.

He'd have gobbled him up quick smart, quickly altering a 90-minute feature film to the length of an Indy short.

For Columbia's sake, the films - from director Rob Minkoff - don't borrow too heavily on the practicality dynamic, and what would normally be lunch is the audience spotlight for an hour or so. Thankfully, cats aren't invited to media screenings, and hence we got to watch the film… Meow free.

Stuart Little 2 is in the same league as the original. The giant-sized laughs, the awe-inspiring special effects, the fantastic family values… They're all back.

And so is pint-sized mouse, Stuart Little (voiced by Michael J.Fox), the more irregular addition to the human 'Little' family. His mum and dad (Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie) still adore him, his younger brother George (Jonathan Lipnicki), who was at first diffident about his 'weird' brother, has come around to him a bit more now and even the house cat, Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane), doesn't blink an eye lid in his direction. Suffice to say, he's definitely loved by his family unit - but sometime's that's not enough - he yearns for friends.

Margalo (voiced by Melanie Griffith), an ostensibly benevolent little bird, literally drops into Stuart's small car, apparently fleeing from the evil Falcon (James Woods), flying above. Later, it seems, Margalo is working for the underhanded Falcon, who has set her up in the little household with a clandestine motive.

But as all live-action movies that have used this same template, we know it's all going to turn out just fine, and that Margalo is going to see the error of her ways, and end up appreciating Stuart more, than the evil winged chirper she works for.

There are a number of things that work so well for the Stuart Little movies. Firstly, Michael J.Fox has the perfect voice and unforseen zeal to be the adorably cutesy Stuart.

And Nathan Lane's a hoot as cheeky, but typical family cat Snowbell. It's also a film with enough warm, witty, consistent laughs, and sweet messages about 'being yourself' to fill a litter box.

3.5 out of 5

Stuart Little 2
Australian release: Thursday September 19
Cast: Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki, and the voices of Michael J.Fox, Melanie Griffith, Steve Zahn, James Woods.
Director: Rob Minkoff.
Website: Click here

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