THE TOOTH FAIRY 2
(PG)
MOVIE: ** (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
“The Tooth Fairy 2” is the kind of film that most critics dread. On the whole, as a bloc, critics A) hate Larry the Cable Guy, B) hated the first “The Tooth Fairy” and C) despise all children’s films not made for an adult crowd (like “Hugo”) or not made by Pixar (and even then, they hated “Cars 2,” but see point A for an explanation on that).
However, I’m not in that camp. I don’t love Larry the Cable Guy, but I do find him funny in the right situation. And while I didn’t love “The Tooth Fairy” with Dwayne Johnson, I didn’t hate it. In fact, part of what I didn’t like about the original film was that it didn’t quite feel like a theatrical feature, but rather a direct-to-video rip-off of “The Santa Clause.”
So now that “Tooth Fairy 2” is an actual direct-to-video film itself, it seems to be in much more comfortable territory. This one features Larry the Cable Guy as (believe it or not) Larry, a guy who loses his girlfriend to a slick politician after he wins a local bowling trophy. While trying to win her back, Larry accidentally tells a kid there’s no Tooth Fairy. As punishment, he’s turned into a Tooth Fairy to work off his debt to the magical realm.
So in essence, “Tooth Fairy 2” is the same plot as “The Tooth Fairy,” only on a much smaller budget and with more flab than rippling muscles. And it plays out exactly that way.
It’s a kids’ movie, so don’t expect anything special or complex. And it’s a Larry the Cable Guy movie, so don’t expect anything high brow at all. Don’t even expect anything medium brow. It’s low brow all the way, but in a nice, friendly PG sort of way. Expect some bathroom humor and slapstick. It’s a movie made for kids in mind, not critics, and probably not even the parents as well.
If you can tolerate Larry the Cable Guy, it’s cute. There’s tons of warts on this one, but it’ll be good for a couple giggles for the children.
The Blu-ray includes several deleted scenes and alternate takes. Additional bonus content includes the featurettes “Why Do I lose My Baby Teeth?,” “Return to Fairyland – Making Tooth Fairy 2,” “Larry the Hairy Fairy” and “Tooth Fairy 2 Introduces Crusher the Pig.”