A severe case of sequelitis on show
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back (PG, 81 mins) Directed by Ricard Cusso, Tania Vincent Reviewed by James Croot
In her six months as Combat Wombat, Maggie Diggins (Deborah Mailman) feels like she’s made a real difference to the lives of Sanctuary City’s residents. However, the latest attembpt by her sidekick, the Galant Glider’s – aka Sweetie (Ed Oxenbould) – to streamline and maximise their do-gooding may have gone a step too far. His Heroes OnDemand app encourages users to call on them anywhere, anytime – for any reason.
Now the dynamic duo spend every waking moment plunging portable toilets, picking up dinner orders and helping elderly turtles with their shopping.
Distracted by “pointless, idiotic, nonemergencies”, Maggie worries that in providing free childcare and “babysitting’ delinquents like teen skink Skylar (Elizabeth Cullen), they’ll miss something far more important. That fear is immediately borne out when a wave of geriatric crime washes over the city. Nine serious offences in 24 hours – and they’ve all been caught on camera.
Determined to find out if there’s a connection between them, Maggie decides that she, Sweetie and Skylar should all go undercover at the place where all the older citizens gather and go to gossip – the Sanctuary City Bowls Club. While still retaining the entertainment value and surprisingly adult themes of the original (once again we have a major character driven by grief), Combat Wombat doesn’t have quite the same impact second time around.
Returning director Ricard Cusso and his Scarygirl co-helmer Tania Vincent attempt to recapture the first film’s sometimes anarchic spirit, but Back 2 Back definitely suffers from a severe case of sequelitis (where bigger doesn’t always mean better).
The addition of next-gen Skylar takes away from the delightful Maggie-Sweetie dynamic, while tech guru Lenny Glick’s (a virtually unrecognisable David Wenham) misguided/ nefarious plans are straight out of Despicable Me/The Incredibles/Megamind villainy 101 (even if they come tinged with a little more pathos than usual) with a touch of The Matrix thrown in (something that’s only likely to leave littler viewers confused).
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back is screening in select cinemas nationwide.