The pandemic caused lockdown, lockdown caused the cinemas to shut, and I lost my favourite pastime. I had been greatly delayed in returning to the big screen much in the way Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway had been delayed. Its scheduled release was for April 2020 but was knocked all the back to May 2021. I was fortunate to see this May 17th 2021. That’s not something I thought I’d hear myself say.
A bit of background; I grew up with the Beatrix Potter books and television series and have been enamoured with the tales of Peter Rabbit and his chums since I was a wee lad so when I found out James Corden was going to voice an animated version, I felt sick.
My first experience of James Corden was in the television series Teachers (2001 - 2004). He was an outcast teacher’s pet and of course Gavin & Stacey (2007 – 2019) where he played the boisterous Smithy. His transition to America had seemed to cause him to put on some sort of fake British, never heard before accent, so when I found out back in 2018 that he was going to voice Peter Rabbit, I wondered how I was going to watch it without wincing? Again, my experience of Domhnall Gleeson had been Ash in Black Mirror (2013) and as General Hux in Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) so how was he going to play Old Mr. McGregor’s relative? Rose Byrne, for me, has always been Renai from Insidious (2010) and she’s supposed to be playing a quasi-version of Beatrix potter?
After my girlfriend had told me to grow up and give Peter Rabbit (2018) a go, I needn’t have worried. The first film had allayed any fears and remembering ‘this film is not made for me’ I was able to let go and enjoy Corden’s Rabbit voice and the characters Gleeson’s cumbersome McGregor and Byrne’s warm-hearted Bea. I was set-up ready for Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.
Stepping back into my local multiplex was a fantastic experience, yes it was while wearing a face mask, yes there was an extensive track & trace check-in and a strange, poorly thought-out one-way system but that was ok. I was back in the cinema - popcorn in hand.
A tiny bit of set up needed but the film was off! Bea is getting published after writing about Peter and his friends but there are some tough decisions to make when publisher Nigel Basil-Jones (David Oyelowo) suggest some quite severe character changes for the gang. The main suggestion is that Peter is clearly the bad boy of the group, and his unfortunate rebranding has a real-life impact when he starts to wonder if he really is just a naughty little rabbit.
Peter meets Barnabas (Lennie James) who this time, instead of wielding a deadly stick, is putting his cunning to use on the mean streets of London, wheeling and dealing and mainly stealing to keep him and his rag tag crew going. Barnabas recruits Peter to aid him on a big heist after witnessing Peter’s natural skill for mischief.
There are no spoilers here, so all I can say is it all plays out with more than enough laughs, a few jumps and some excellent post-modern self-referencing which was clearly a reply to a few snarky critics. What I will say is that one character gets to experience two things: sparkling water and sugar, and this character reacts exactly the same as I.
Was I happy to be back in the cinema and would have been happy no matter what I was watching? Of Course. Did I laugh just as much as my girlfriend? Unashamedly yes. Was Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway worth seeing? Yes indeed!
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