Monster Family 2 Explained

Monster Family 2 (also known as Monster Family 2: Nobody's Perfect^[1] and released as Happy Family 2 in Germany)^[3] is a 2021 animated comedy horror film directed and produced by Holger Tappe, and written by David Safier. A sequel to the 2017 film Monster Family, the voice cast includes Emily Watson, Jason Isaacs, Nick Frost, Jessica Brown Findlay, Catherine Tate, Ethan Rouse (all reprising their roles) and Emily Carey.^[4]

The film was released via video on demand in the UK as a Sky Cinema Original Film by the Sky Group on 22 October 2021, and was released in US cinemas by VivaKids a week earlier on 15 October.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Plot

A year after the previous events, the Wishbone family is struggling with its various shortcomings. Max, the son, is the shortest student in the 8th grade. All the classmates are at least a head taller, so they laugh at the clumsy fat man with glasses. His sister Faye believes all her friends are talented in something, but she is not. The mother, Emma, tries to help her children, but her advice is ignored at best and often irritates them. Finally, the father Frank's happiness at his new job and calmer lifestyle is being ruined because his family is so unhappy.

At the wedding of the witch Baba Yaga and the hunchbacked butler Renfield (who have become part of the large Wishbone family as surrogate grandparents), the bride and groom are kidnapped shortly before they exchange oaths. The kidnapper is Mila Starr, the only daughter of a billionaire, scientific genius and philanthropist, couple Marlene and Maddox Starr. To save Baba Yaga and Renfield, Max intentionally uses Baba Yaga's magic to turn himself and his family into their monster forms again. Now the transformed Wishbone family must rescue Baba Yaga and Renfield from the Starr family while also encountering the Starr family's trapped monsters, including their old enemy Count Dracula.

Voice cast

• Emily Watson as Emma Wishbone, the matriarch of the Wishbone family who is turned into a vampire again.
• Nick Frost as Frank Wishbone, the patriarch of the Wishbone family who is turned into Frankenstein's monster again.
• Jessica Brown Findlay as Fay Wishbone, the daughter of Emma and Frank who is turned into a mummy again.
• Ethan Rouse as Max Wishbone, the son of Emma and Frank who is turned into a werewolf again.
• Catherine Tate as Baba Yaga, a witch who is now friends with the Wishbone family.
• Jason Isaacs as:
  • Count Dracula, a vampire and the Wishbone family's old enemy who seeks revenge on them for foiling his plans even though he is the first monster the Starr family had captured.
  • Dracula A.I., the A.I. of the jet that the Wishbone family uses.
• Emily Carey as:
  • Mila Starr, an expert monster hunter.
  • Mila 2.0
• Rebecca Camp as Girl #1
• Daniel Ben Zenou as Maddox Starr, a billionaire philanthropist who is the father of Mila.
• Emma Tate as:
  • Marlene Starr, a billionaire philanthropist who is the mother of Mila.
  • Girl #2
  • Female News Presenter
• Ewan Bailey as:
  • Renfield, a hunchbacked former servant of Count Dracula and Baba Yaga's fiancé.
  • Reverend
  • Fisherman
  • Male News Presenter
  • Farmer
• Matt Roberts as Protester
• Oliver Kalfkofe as a Yeti that the Starr family caught.
• Tilo Schmitz as King Konga, a giant gorilla.

Release

"Monster Family 2" was released on October 15, 2021 by VivaKids in the United States, and then on October 22 as a Sky Cinema original by Sky in the United Kingdom. It was later released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 7, 2022 as a 2-movie collection with the original film "Monster Family" by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (through Warner Bros. Home Entertainment).

Reception

Tom Cassidy of Common Sense Media gave Monster Family 2 a negative review, calling it "frightfully bad" and "a hollow experience".^[6] A review in Stuff.co.nz described the film as "a pallid, insipid sequel that will struggle to entertain even the most undemanding primary schooler".^[8] Pablo De Vita of La Nación offered a more positive review, stating that the movie was entertaining, albeit derivative.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Kay, Jeremy (5 August 2021) Sequel to animated international hit 'Monster Family' lands US distribution (exclusive) . Screen Daily. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
2. Monster Family 2 (2021). tt15096796. May 11, 2022.
3. https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/kultur/film/2123835-Kinderfilme-Es-muss-nicht-immer-Disney-sein.html Kinderfilme: Es muss nicht immer Disney sein
4. https://timelessfilms.co.uk/programme/monster-family-2-aka-happy-family-2 Monster Family 2 (aka Happy Family 2)
5. Milligan, Mercedes (30 September 2021) Trailer: The Hunt for Fun Is on in 'Monster Family 2: Nobody's Perfect' . Animation Magazine. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
6. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/monster-family-2 Monster Family 2
7. https://www.sky.com/watch/title/programme/2d9776ec-4496-42d8-93d5-d045e1bc6544 Monster Family 2
8. Web site: Monster Family 2: A pallid, inspid animated sequel that struggles to entertain. Stuff.co.nz. Croot. James. 4 March 2022. 28 July 2022. 29 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220729034005/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/stuff-to-watch/300532240/monster-family-2-a-pallid-inspid-animated-sequel-that-struggles-to-entertain. live.
9. Web site: Estrenos de cine: La familia Monster 2 entretiene con una historia efectiva y convencional. De Vita. Pablo. La Nación. 2 December 2021. es. 28 July 2022. 29 July 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220729033739/https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/cine/estrenos-de-cine-la-familia-monster-2-entretiene-con-una-historia-efectiva-y-convencional-nid02122021/. live.