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Stuart Little 2

EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia Pictures

Stuart Little 2 reviews
66
4.8 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 7 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Fantasy

Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin (also story)
Douglas Wick (story)
E.B. White (characters from the book Stuart Little)

Directed by: Rob Minkoff

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 19, 2002
DVD: December 10, 2002

Running Time: 72 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG for brief mild language

Starring Michael J. Fox, Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki, Nathan Lane, Melanie Griffith, James Woods, and Steve Zahn

The mouse is back (no, not Mickey!) in this sequel to the 1999 film.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

90

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

A wonderful thing to snuggle into, as full of heart and pep and innocence as the title character himself.

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90

New Times (L.A.) Jean Oppenheimer

Does a masterful job of combining digital imagery and voice performance to create totally believable animal characters.

90

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Hits every color note just right. It's a visual antidepressant.

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80

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

Returning director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) and screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost) have done a fine job of updating White's dry wit to a new age, led in no small measure by Lane, who could probably make the IRS code book sound funny.

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80

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's a pleasant experience. But that's what it is: a sequel that replays every aspect of the original movie.

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80

The New York Times Stephen Holden

What sets the "Stuart Little" franchise above most of the competition is its emphasis on sharply drawn character and its profusion of witty remarks (mostly from the mouth of Snowbell) that are cutting enough to amuse grown-ups without sailing over children's heads.

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80

Variety Joe Leydon

Slight but lively sequel. Aimed squarely at moppets with piddling attention spans.

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80

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Like many modern children's films, Stuart Little 2 can't decide between teaching good values ("You're only as big as you feel") and tossing out fake-hip jokes. Though it doesn't happen as often as it should, this is a better film when it allows itself simply to be sweet.

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78

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

It's easy enough to forget there are special effects involved, so convincing is Stu's rippling fur and big beamy eyes filling up with tears.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

May hit a few wrong notes, but it strikes an emotional chord.

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75

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Very much a kiddie ride, Stuart Little 2 is lively without being hyperactive -- it's a bouncy mouse caper with a wee bit of soul.

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75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Of the voices, Griffith makes Margalo lovable and as sexy as a little yellow bird can be, and Lane does a virtuoso job with Snowbell, the only cat with dialogue by Damon Runyon. Fox's Stuart is stalwart and heroic--the Braveheart of mice. As for the parents, Davis and Laurie deserve some kind of award for keeping straight faces.

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75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

May be the best family movie of the 2002 summer film-going season. There's a simple reason for this - the picture seems to have been put together with the recognition that some members of the audience may be above the age of ten.

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75

Chicago Tribune Chris Jones

A warm, witty, consistently funny family movie with a sweet message about loving yourself, be you a mouse or whatever.

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70

Village Voice Ed Park

The summer's most romantic interspecies love story.

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70

Chicago Reader Staff (Not Credited)

The film is fairly formulaic, though some of its puns and wisecracks are hilarious, especially those delivered by the Littles' lazy and cynical Persian cat (Nathan Lane).

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70

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

It's hard to imagine spending $120 million on a film starring a computer-generated mouse -- an actor who barely demands a byte to eat -- but if that's how much it takes to provide innocent enchantment for the global hordes, so be it. This sequel beats the original paws down.

67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Wholesome, warm and energetic -- if predictable.

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63

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The moral of this softhearted tale is that family values can rehabilitate and tenderize even the toughest of birds. But you'll forgive me if I liked it less when Stuart smoothed Margalo's feathers than when Snowbell's fundamental cattiness made the fur fly.

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63

USA Today Claudia Puig

The plot is predictable and the dialogue often sticky sweet, but at least kids will identify with Stuart's desire for adventure and exploration.

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63

Miami Herald Christine Dolen

Neither man nor mouse nor any other critter has a prayer of holding his/her/its own once the real star of the sequel shows up: Snowbell, the worrywart feline voiced by Nathan Lane.

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50

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Nearly scrapes the bottom of the cracker barrel in search of suspense, now that the humans accept the polite mouse as one of their own.

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50

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Stuart and Margolo are genuine marvels of computer generated special effects, each feather, whisker and strand of fur beautifully rendered. But they're bland and rather boring characters, dumbed down for kids.

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50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

Vacillating between sappy and snappy, Stuart Little 2 is featherweight family fare, perfectly timed for viewers with short attention spans.

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50

Film Threat Michael Dequina

Basically more of the same, and depending on who you are, that's either an encouraging statement or a warning.

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40

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Never becomes more than a just-acceptable kiddie time-filler.

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38

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A lot more stupid action - and a lot less heart - than the character-driven original, as Stuart ends up rescuing Margalo from Falcon.

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38

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Manages to pretty much ignore all the strengths of the earlier film while exacerbating all its faults.

38

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Sure, go ahead and take the kids. But, for pity's sake, read them the book first.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 4.8 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

King Kong gave it a 0:
It sucked! Every scene was unrealistic. A family adopting a mouse? A mouse playing soccer? "Little hey little ho" "Littlie hi little lo" The movie sucked majorly.

Eric S. gave it a 6:
Pleasantly entertaining and delightful in it's simplicity; better than the original. The suspension of disbelief needed to watch Stuart operate in a world with full-sized grownups and accepted as one of them might be a chore for adults, though. Kids will be delighted by the in-jokes and fanciful imagination offered by Bruce Joel Rubin's script. And of course, Michael J. Fox is great.

Chad S. gave it a 5:
Like "Lilo & Stich", "Stuart Little 2" ends with a chase. It's all part of Hollywood's plan to train little kids from having expectations for a real third act. It's a mixed bag anyway, well before the film goes on cruise control. The bird (that Mr. Ebert determines to be a canary)which Melanie Griffith voices will win you over with its eyelashes and pluckish charm, and a sequence where Stuart is lowered in the kitchen sink drain impresses. But the film goes flat when Stuart goes looking for his feathered friend. Lipnicki and his cohort dupe the former's mother (Geena Davis), who is supposed to be playing an adult, yet gets easily manipulated and outsmarted by two little kids. It's a mistake to deviate from any of the three prominent talking animals since they seem more fully realized than the humans. But this is a undergraduate with no children watching "Stuart Little 2". Kids will, no doubt, enjoy this superior children's entertainment.

Ilze S. gave it an 8:
Very nice movie! I think this movie is great film to the kids. Dynamic but lovely.

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