Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

I was turned off by 2010's Diary of a Wimpy Kid, as well as its 2011 rushed, cash-in sequel, Rodrick Rules. The movies had a mean streak, and an overall nastiness to them that seemed out of place for what was supposed to be a kid's franchise. Much to my surprise, the latest entry, Dog Days, is actually kind of sweet. There's nothing in this movie that was able to win me over completely, but at least it shows some signs of improvement.

Once again, we're introduced to middle school student, Greg Heffley, who is once again played by Zachary Gordon. How much longer we'll be seeing young Mr. Gordon in the lead role of this series, I'm not sure, as it seems he went through quite a growth spurt between the last movie and this one. It's kind of hard to see him as a "wimpy kid", when he's almost starting to tower over his older brother, Rodrick (Devon Bostick). One of my big problems with the earlier films is that I just plain did not like the character of Greg, who would frequently abuse and humiliate his sweet and dorky best friend, Rowley (Robert Capron), as well as lie and scheme to get what he wanted. And while Greg does still seem to be a bit too self centered to be truly likable, he has at least had some of his nastier qualities sanded off this time around, making him a bit easier to relate to. Same goes for big brother, Rodrick, who came across as somewhat of a psychopath in the last movie. This time, he seems more like a goofy and harmless doofus.

As the film opens, summer vacation is just staring, and Greg has only two goals in mind - One is to do nothing but play video games all summer long. The other is to try to get closer to his long-time crush, Holly Hills (Peyton List). Both goals are immediately met with obstacles. His dreams of playing video games all day is challenged by his father (Steve Zahn), who wants Greg to enjoy the outdoors, and signs him up for a father-son wilderness group for some bonding. As for Holly, Greg tries to get her phone number when she signs his school yearbook, but that plan goes awry. At first, Greg thinks all is lost, but then he finds out that she works as a junior tennis coach at the local country club, and that his best friend Rowley just happens to be a member. He begins hanging out at the country club with Rowley, telling his dad that he got a summer job there, so that he can get closer to the lovely Holly.

Much like the earlier films, Dog Days does not really follow a traditional plot structure. It's more a series of black-out gags and anecdotes loosely strung together by a simple plot. Returning director, David Bowers, does make more of an effort to tell a story this time around, however. This is done mostly through the plot of Greg and his father, and their efforts to bond, despite the fact that they have so little in common. It's encouraging to see Steve Zahn, playing Greg's father, getting an actual part in this movie, considering he was criminally underused in the last two. He gets a couple of nice moments here, and I like the way that the two characters start bonding over their hatred of a sappy and unfunny daily comic strip. Sure, the movie has nothing new to say about father-son relationships, but it's a nice break from the gross-out gags that this franchise is mainly known for.

Outside of the plot of Greg and his father, the movie is more or less what we've come to expect, albeit a bit gentler than before. There are still some gross out gags, but they seem more mild in nature. Some will probably see this as the series losing its edge, but I for one welcome it. The earlier movies made me feel uncomfortable. This one's a little bit wittier. Yeah, it's still pretty dumb overall, and a lot of the gags are just too predictable for their own good. But, I smiled more while I was watching this one. It tries to find laughs out of the honesty and hardships of being a kid, rather than these characters being cruel to each other. If there are to be any more movies, I hope that the filmmakers use this one as an example.

Dog Days is obviously not a great kid's movie, or even a good one. But, it is an encouraging one for this particular franchise, and shows that maybe the movies are starting to grow up a little along with the actors. There's still a lot of room for improvement, but at least the filmmakers seem to realize that.

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