Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021 film)

Best friends Greg Heffley and Rowley Jefferson are about to enter middle school. Greg gets advice from his older brother Rodrick on how to "survive" (putting emphasis on avoiding the Cheese Touch, which supposedly makes one incredibly unpopular), scaring the former. Figuring that Rowley's childish tendencies will cause them to be bullied, Greg tries to urge Rowley to grow up, almost telling him about the cheese, but decides against it, not wanting to scare him too much. Before long, the first day of school arrives, and Greg tries to help Rowley adjust, though both end up shunned by the majority of the students, mostly due to Rowley's somewhat childish antics, which includes the use of the word "play" over "hang out." Nevertheless, they manage to avoid scraping the bottom of the school hierarchy.

On Halloween night, Greg and Rowley are forced to take the former's younger brother Manny with them. While at first annoyed, Greg realizes that Manny's adorable pirate costume allows them to acquire a large amount of candy. Eventually, Manny and Rowley become tired, but Greg insists that they continue on and take a shortcut through Snake Road, despite his mother Susan forbidding it. They encounter a trio of teenage boys who begin to mock and chase them with water balloons down the road. The younger boys manage to evade them by tricking them into driving their truck into a ditch and make it home right on time, only to be soaked by Greg's father Frank who mistook them for teenagers. Manny then outs the Snake Road incident to Susan, who lays a week long video game ban on him.

Later on, while playing "rumble trike", Greg accidentally breaks Rowley's arm. Susan discovers this, but chooses not to punish Greg any further. Instead, she encourages him do the right thing and be a good friend to Rowley. Greg instead tries to take advantage of Rowley's broken arm, only to get shunned further by the other students, who dote on Rowley and demonize Greg for breaking it in the first place. Greg attempts to take a different approach and become a cartoonist for the school paper; Rowley takes an interest in a scrapped idea of his, in which the punchline of every strip is "Zoo-Wee Mama!", but Greg insists on a new one he drew, urging Rowley to make his own comic instead of working together. Greg's entry gets him accepted as the new cartoonist, but the librarian butchers his comic, making his classmates mock him. After Greg resigns from his position, Rowley's comic, which features the stolen phrase, gets accepted, causing the boys to argue and break their friendship.

Rowley befriends a boy named Chirag Gupta and starts seeing him more often. In an attempt to get back at him, Greg decides to hang out with Fregley, an incredibly strange and unpopular boy. Greg has a sleepover at his house, but is immediately put off by his odd eccentricities. The next day, Greg and Rowley confront each other and are urged to fight by the other kids, only for the trio of teenagers to return to get revenge on the boys. The teenagers force Rowley to eat a piece of the cheese and are about to force Greg to do the same, but are saved by Mr. Underwood, the school's gym coach.

The other kids return to see what has transpired. To protect Rowley, Greg claims that he was the one who ate the cheese, causing everyone else to run from him in terror. Greg and Rowley resume their friendship as the former quickly realizes that having the Cheese Touch is a blessing as it forces everyone to give him and Rowley space, as well as a personal lunch table to themselves.

• Brady Noon as Greg Heffley, a sixth grader who yearns to be popular.[2]
• Ethan William Childress as Rowley Jefferson, Greg's childish best friend.[2]
• Chris Diamantopoulos as Frank Heffley, Greg's father.[2]
• Erica Cerra as Susan Heffley, Greg's mother.
• Hunter Dillon as Rodrick Heffley, Greg's aggressive older brother.
• Christian Convery as Fregley, a weird classmate of Greg's.
• Veda Maharaj as Chirag Gupta, a kid who become's Rowley's best friend.
• Billy Lopez as Mr. Underwood, the school coach.
• Brenda Crichlow as Fregley's mom
• Yuvraj Singh Kalsi as Charlie Davies, a classmate of Greg's.
• Robert Moloney as Joshie, a Eurpoean pop star who Rowley adores.
• Gracen Newton as Manny Heffley, Greg's troublemaking younger brother.
• Lossen Chambers as Homeroom Teacher, a teacher who dislikes Greg.
• Donny Lucas as Mr. Humphreys, the school principal. In the books and the 2010 live-action film, he is known as Vice Principal Roy.
• Cyrus Arnold as Teen Driver, the leader of the teenagers who antagonize Greg and Rowley. In the first book, he is unnamed, but in the 2010 live-action film, he is known as Pete Hosey.
• Zeno Robinson as Teen with Baseball Cap, another one of the teenagers. In the first book, he is unnamed, but in the 2010 live-action film, his name is Carter.
• Braxton Baker as Teen with Mullet, another one of the teenagers. In the first book, he is unnamed, but in the 2010 live-action film, his name is Wade.
• John Omohundro as Hulking Teen, a bully who antagonizes Greg at his school.
• Jessica Mikayla Adams as Braced Girl
• Tessa Espinosa as Curly-Haired Girl

Additionally, Rowley's father, Robert, makes a silent appearance in the film. Additionally, George Deveney, a character from Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down, makes an appearance as the popular kid in Greg's school, instead of Bryce Anderson, who is the popular kid in the books and 2010 live-action film.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.30/10.[23] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[24]

Variety gave a positive review of the movie, saying, "Similar to its 2010 counterpart, this animated reboot amusingly tackles universal aspects of adolescence like first-day jitters, the fleeting nature of popularity, navigating cafeteria social hierarchies and the frustrations of not fitting in. [...] With this notable sense of visual dexterity and stirring sentiments surrounding friendship and individuality that don’t come across as hollow platitudes, the brisk 56-minute feature is yet another noteworthy start to a burgeoning franchise reboot."[25] The A.V. Club gave the movie a mixed review, writing, "On that level, the new version of Wimpy Kid has its moments. It bounces between vignettes, some amusing and some choppily edited, testing the mettle of Heffley and his optimistic best pal Rowley (Ethan William Childress), perhaps Kinney’s most durable creation. [...] Even if their minds wander, most grown-ups probably won’t be as bored as the actors playing Heffley’s parents sound; they both give oddly flat and colorless vocal performances. It’s these hints of indifference that make Diary Of A Wimpy Kidfeel like a contractual obligation, or a cobbling together of streaming content, rather than the start of a new series."[26] Common Sense Media rated the movie 3 out of 5 stars, indicating, "Animated book adaptation has bullying, some gross humor."[27] Screen Rant rated the movie 1.5 out of 5, stating, "Existing fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise will at least get some enjoyment from watching such a faithful adaptation. [...] Perhaps 2021's animated reboot can serve as a cautionary tale for the industry: being a good writer does not make one a good screenwriter and sometimes the best way to stay faithful to the spirit of a book is to have a competent and experienced professional write the adaptation."[28]

On October 23, 2021, ahead of the first film's release, Jeff Kinney revealed that sequels are already in development.[29][30] For Disney+ Day, Kinney revealed that the sequel, based on Rodrick Rules, is set to be released in 2022.[31] Kinney stated that he intends to adapt all his books into animated features for Disney+.[32] In March 2022, composer John Paesano confirmed that he would return to score the film's music.[33]

• Official website
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid on Disney+
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid at IMDb