Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (sometimes known as Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules) is a 2011 American comedy film based on Jeff Kinney's book of the same name with a couple elements from The Last Straw. The film stars Zachary Gordon and Devon Bostick. Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, and Peyton List also have prominent roles.

Summary
Back in middle school after summer vacation, Greg Heffley and his older brother Rodrick must deal with their parents' misguided attempts to have them bond.

Why It Rules

 * 1) Much like the first film, the loyalty to the source material is amazing and captures the tone of the book very well while altering the characters to make them seem more human unlike how they're portrayed in Greg's journals in the books.  They also did a great job once again, capturing how others look in the movie, including the main cast from the first movie, and Holly Hills.
 * 2) The humor, similar to the first movie, relies on character interactions rather than cheap toilet humor and it works, with many funny scenes such as Greg and Rodrick cleaning up the house in a rush, the chase scene with Coach Malone, and Chirag tricking Greg into humiliating him and getting revenge after the Invisible Chirag joke by pretending to be Holly, which helps make this movie feel great to watch.
 * 3) There are some new and very interesting characters, such as Greg‘s new love interest, Holly Hills (who gets more character development than in the books), and Greg even gets more chemistry with Holly than he did in the books, and gives him some good advice about siblings.  While it may seem like another generic love interest, we get to see more of what Holly's everyday life is, which helps make the interactions between Greg and Holly feel more authentic, and Greg's attempts at impressing Holly are funny and helps Greg reconnect with Rodrick and helps the ending feel more earned as a result.
 * 4) Unlike in the books, Greg and Rodrick actually develop chemistry where they learn to be nice to each other and look out for one another, and you feel the ending scene when Rodrick hands Greg the tape, when Greg, in spite of getting treated poorly by Rodrick after getting busted at the leisure towers, decides to get Susan to let him perform by doing a talent show act with Rowley, showing that Greg cares more about his brother than his reputation to Holly Hills.
 * 5) While Rodrick may be a jerk, his character portrayal in this film along with Dog Days leans more towards him acting like a cool older brother to Greg to the point where he doesn't even bully him anymore.
 * 6) One of the very few times where Susan Heffley brings up a very good point about how siblings should be there for one another, and she does a good job of understanding Greg and helps him build a better relationship with Rodrick in the middle and the end of the movie as well.
 * 7) The characters are still relatable and likable, mainly Greg.
 * 8) The cartoon aspect from the book is still spot-on and well-animated, just like the first movie.
 * 9) Many unforgettable and hilarious moments, such as the scene where Greg and Rodrick get chased down by Coach Malone or the scene where Susan’s dancing distracts the audience of the talent show, as well as Fregley’s ventriloquist act in the same scene, and Greg and Rodrick cleaning up their mess after a party.
 * 10) The friendship between Greg and Rowley is still unforgettable, and the development of their friendship is also present from the first movie, and treats Rowley better than he did in the first movie, where he decides to do the magic show act with him, but they still show that Greg having some jerk moments such as the Invisible Chirag joke and forcing him to make a youtube video to be viral, which actually is good to show, since it shows that Greg is still learning and hasn't fully become a better person yet, adding to his character development.
 * 11) A nice running gag of Greg pretending Chirag is invisible while not getting too mean spirited with Chirag getting back at Greg.
 * 12) It is arguably one of those rare sequels that improves on the original.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Rodrick can be a jerk in some moments, like in the scene where he forces Greg to run around the retirement home in his underwear after he read his diary, though it remains in character given how he is upset how he got punished, but it still comes off as needlessly cruel and unjustifiable.
 * 2) Manny is still a bratty, one-dimensional character who gets away with his wrongdoings because of the ”He’s only three” excuse, which is often done in a way of showing a poor lesson to younger viewers and parents. Granted, he does makes a spiked aluminum ball for Greg and apologizes to him for breaking his console, but still.
 * 3) Despite their intention, it can seem unfair that Susan and Frank force Rodrick and Greg to stay at the house punished for a night after causing such a mess in the church when it should have been only been Rodrick to get punished here, while Greg was totally justified enough in beating Rodrick up because of how furious he was at Rodrick for humiliating him in front of everyone in church.
 * 4) Still uses obvious product placements such as Xbox 360 and Apple products, although nowhere near as much as in "The Long Haul".

Box office
The film made $7.3 million on its opening day, ranking #2 behind Sucker Punch. The film managed to rank #1 in the weekend box office. In the UK, the film debuted at #3 in the weekend box office behind Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Hangover Part II. The film eventually grossed $52,698,535 in the US/Canada and $19,718,859 in other countries for a worldwide total of $72,417,394.

Critical response
Just like it's predecessor, it recieved mixed reviews from critics but recieved positive reviews from audience and the fans of the book series. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on 98 reviews and an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Moderately witty and acceptably acted, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 isn't much worse than the first installment." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review saying, "Director David Bowers keeps things peppy and brightly lighted, but the movie's swiftest pleasures come from moment-seizing cast members." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it a positive review saying, "A little less wimpy, gives value lessons to the watchers from the cast, and still pretty funny" and a B rating. Pete Hammond of Boxoffice magazine gave it a mixed review stating "Even better than the first edition, in its own sitcom-ish ways." However, Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave it a negative review (38 on Metacritic), stating "You can't fault the filmmakers for reshaping a diary into a cohesive film. You can however, fault them for taking one of the great antiheroes in preteen literature and turning him into, well, an even wimpier kid."