Link to the first Wimpy Kid adventure: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Review

Link to previous Wimpy Kid adventure: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules Review

One year after Rodrick Rules, came the third and final entry in the trilogy, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. As I kind of alluded to in my last review this is easily the weakest of the three. It’s the Godfather Part III or Return of the Jedi. Let’s just get this ball rolling!

I never really had much of a problem with the first or second movies, but Dog Days kind of rubs me the wrong way and it’s not because Greg’s voice sounds a lot squeakier than before, it’s something else entirely.

School is out and Greg is now on summer holidays. His ultimate goal for this film is to play video games for the entire break and somehow also hook-up with Holly. Greg has to be mindful of the major supporting player in this film, Daddy Heffley, who wants him to go outside and be more sporty otherwise, if he doesn’t get his act together, Daddy will ship Greg off to an elite military boarding school.

You also have Rodrick wanting to hit it off with Holly’s older sister, Heather, the devil incarnate. Plus Rowley and Greg’s friendship is going through a little turmoil, Mumma Heffley is starting a summer book club, Dad gets Greg and Rowley to join the boy scouts group, along with getting the family a dog and Greg tells his father that he’s working at the country club so he can spend time with Holly and let Rodrick hang out with the evil goat woman.

Is that everything? I’m not quite sure as this movie is crammed full of side activities to keep Greg occupied. Sure the previous two movies had some pointless things to keep Greg busy, but at least in those movies, even with the side distractions, you still knew what Greg’s goals were and his current status with either Rowley or Rodrick. Not in Dog Days as Frank Heffley is very much absent as he’s busy at work. Fair enough, but Greg’s goals become a bit lost as he’s also busy dealing with his relationships with Rowley, Rodrick, Holly and so forth who appear as much or more than Frank.

Plus Greg is lying to pretty much all of these characters so can you see how his motivations could easily get lost with all this in the way? I say it feels crammed as most of the character stories that are set-up don’t really end satisfactorily because they’re battling for time against the other character stories. Frank’s storyline is still the best, despite vying with the other characters for screen time, as they bring him back at the right moments to allow enough time for reflection on his relationship with his son.

I may sound like I hate this movie, but honestly I don’t. It’s just as enjoyable as the last two movies but it’s biggest fault is there is too much going on, and I guess also most of the humour was hit and miss. It’s the third movie in three years so I can understand it running out of steam. The most common complaint with this movie is that our bright young cast are clearly not kids anymore, which I understand, but I still love watching these actors. I could easily go for a Diary of a depressed teenager or Diary of a man having a mid life crisis.

Rodrick easily steals the show for me as even in the movie’s less stellar moments, he is still consistently charming and almost adorably lovable. I liked that they carried over from Rodrick Rules that Rodrick is so convinced that he’s hot stuff that he cannot see that he’s such a loser. I love it! The guy needs better taste in women, though, I’m more shocked Greg and Holly think he’s a clone of that soulless devil woman posing as Holly’s sister. Rodrick is actually more likeable than Greg at this point. Greg is on his way to growing up to be like Walter White for the amount of times he lies to his friends or family in this. Still Greg isn’t too bad and neither are the other characters. I’m disappointed that most of the Heffley’s are again sidelined in favour of more scenes with Rowley who I’ve grown more tired of with each passing movie.

This movie still has some of my favourite moments of the whole trilogy, such as Frank and Greg finally finding something in common at the motel. I also liked the few scenes at the school and of course pretty much any scene with Rodrick, especially at the birthday party. This movie also provides a grand ending to the trilogy, which if fine. The only thing of note is Greg and Holly might be a couple and I would be interested to see how Greg Heffley would go in an actual relationship.

The final Diary of a Wimpy Kid isn’t the worst thing ever, but it definitely could have been better. Well folks, we have reached the end of this short series. That was one of the favourite trilogies of my childhood and it was nice to revisit it and share my love for these films with whoever may be reading this, whatever your background might be.

I have said everything I need to on Diary of a Wimpy Kid as I’m not interested in checking out anything past this movie. Thanks for reading these reviews and I hope to see you all again somewhere on this site. Blog Complainer out!