The first time I watched this movie I wasn't so fond of it. With all the hype surrounding the book and the great promos on tv I was expecting something that would make me lol and have me so intrigued that I would hate when the movie ended. The reality was I was counting down the minutes for it to end. I found Greg extremely annoying, how can one kid be so consumed with trying to be popular and liked that he can't realize that Rowley was his best and only friend. He is so concerned with others that the best friends he is going to have for life is Fregly and Rowley and he treats the two like dirt.
The best part of this movie for me was most likely the "Zoo-We Mama"- now that is something I'll remember forever. And I don't think it's because the cartoons Greg and Rowley were drawing were that funny, they were like, ha-okay but maybe some middle schoolers would find the cartoons funny. I just felt as though the whole movie surrounded "Zoo-Wee Mama". It was Rowley’s breaking point; it’s when he finally had that Ah-Ha moment. He does what many kids will never do; he stands up for himself and without saying it said “I like who I am and you or no one else will change that Greg Heffley.” I will admit though, it is probably one of the more passive aggressive ways to claim your identity, but we all have those moments, myself included.
While reading the diary after watching the movie I think I had my own Ah-Ha moment. The movie shows us that Rowley made up “Zoo-Wee Mama” but in his diary Greg creates “Zoo-Wee Mama” and Rowley steals it. While both are from Greg’s perspective I though what if Greg just thought he made up “Zoo-Wee Mama” since he is a bit of a narcissist and seems to think he is always right. Then I realized how much people exaggerate things, especially since the younger we are the bigger and more drawn out everything seems.
I decided to give the movie another shot after reading the book to refresh my memory and it wasn’t that bad this time, it was actually much more enjoyable. The movie incorporated parts of the diary in it but constructed it in a way that made the story its own while on screen. (Maybe that has something to do with the fact that Jeff Kinney worked on the movie.)
But there are a few things I missed from the diary that I wish the movie would have had…
1.) Like Manny. Where was he? He made a few appearances in the movie but not that many and he was by the far the cutest character- in the movie as well as in the diary. On of my favorite diary entries was when Manny swallowed the string and thought it was a spider. It made me cringe the whole way through because of my fear of spiders and anything else bug like. It’s also something my brother would have done to me although I’m pretty sure it would have been a real spider. I would also like to have seen him dumb cornflakes in his plastic potty.
2.) I enjoyed how the movie incorporated the teenagers from Halloween night into the plot of Rowley getting kicked off of safety patrol. It helped to tie plots together. I also think its much cooler that Greg told the kindergartners to jump into a hole to hide from the space monsters instead of chasing them with a worm on a stick like he did in his diary. (Probably my fear of bugs again.)
3.) Speaking of Halloween, I believe the movie under played the whole plot. I know I would have definitely loved to see Greg and Rowley make their own haunted house on the big screen. Then again if seen in action some kids may try it at home.
The best part of this movie for me was most likely the "Zoo-We Mama"- now that is something I'll remember forever. And I don't think it's because the cartoons Greg and Rowley were drawing were that funny, they were like, ha-okay but maybe some middle schoolers would find the cartoons funny. I just felt as though the whole movie surrounded "Zoo-Wee Mama". It was Rowley’s breaking point; it’s when he finally had that Ah-Ha moment. He does what many kids will never do; he stands up for himself and without saying it said “I like who I am and you or no one else will change that Greg Heffley.” I will admit though, it is probably one of the more passive aggressive ways to claim your identity, but we all have those moments, myself included.
While reading the diary after watching the movie I think I had my own Ah-Ha moment. The movie shows us that Rowley made up “Zoo-Wee Mama” but in his diary Greg creates “Zoo-Wee Mama” and Rowley steals it. While both are from Greg’s perspective I though what if Greg just thought he made up “Zoo-Wee Mama” since he is a bit of a narcissist and seems to think he is always right. Then I realized how much people exaggerate things, especially since the younger we are the bigger and more drawn out everything seems.
I decided to give the movie another shot after reading the book to refresh my memory and it wasn’t that bad this time, it was actually much more enjoyable. The movie incorporated parts of the diary in it but constructed it in a way that made the story its own while on screen. (Maybe that has something to do with the fact that Jeff Kinney worked on the movie.)
But there are a few things I missed from the diary that I wish the movie would have had…
1.) Like Manny. Where was he? He made a few appearances in the movie but not that many and he was by the far the cutest character- in the movie as well as in the diary. On of my favorite diary entries was when Manny swallowed the string and thought it was a spider. It made me cringe the whole way through because of my fear of spiders and anything else bug like. It’s also something my brother would have done to me although I’m pretty sure it would have been a real spider. I would also like to have seen him dumb cornflakes in his plastic potty.
2.) I enjoyed how the movie incorporated the teenagers from Halloween night into the plot of Rowley getting kicked off of safety patrol. It helped to tie plots together. I also think its much cooler that Greg told the kindergartners to jump into a hole to hide from the space monsters instead of chasing them with a worm on a stick like he did in his diary. (Probably my fear of bugs again.)
3.) Speaking of Halloween, I believe the movie under played the whole plot. I know I would have definitely loved to see Greg and Rowley make their own haunted house on the big screen. Then again if seen in action some kids may try it at home.