Big Fat Liar 2 (2017)

Big Fat Liar 2: Directed by Ron Oliver. With Barry Bostwick, Ricky Garcia, Jodelle Ferland, Fiona Vroom. When a scheming producer steals his idea for a new video game, Kevin Shepard and his best friend, Becca, declare “GAME ON” and stop at nothing to set the record straight.

“I apologize in advance- this review is a bit on the scathing side. But deservedly so, as studios need to realize that if sequels/remakes/reboots are going to be greenlit, they need to be at least remotely worthwhile.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen I first saw this on Netflix, I was both shocked and excited; I had not heard about a remake of Big Fat Liar being in the works, but BFL was one of my absolute favorite movies as a kid, so I was hopeful about a fresh take on the story. This movie also had quite a bit of storytelling potential as far as explaining why the main character lied so much and why his friend put up with his nonsense for so long.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd then I saw no trace of Dan Schneider in the writing/producing credits. That was a hard pill to swallow, as he was the reason the original was so much fun, but still, I went into it cautiously optimistic. After all, I enjoyed Ricky Garcia and Jodelle Ferland in other things…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTwenty minutes in, I knew. I kept telling myself it could get better, so I stuck it out u0026#39;til the end, but it just didnu0026#39;t.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;ll start with the writing. Itu0026#39;s awful. There were inconsistencies as glaring as the name of the video game in question; it switched between Bigger Fatter Liar and Big Fat Liar, so after watching the movie, Iu0026#39;m still not sure what the actual name is. Not to mention, I could swear Wolfu0026#39;s first name is Larry in the movie, but on IMDb heu0026#39;s listed as Alan. What? The biggest issue with the writing, however, is that it lacks everything that made Big Fat Liar special: quirkiness, charm, and most of all, LIFE. The remake was devoid of all of it. It didnu0026#39;t help that Wolf went from turning into a brightly colored clown to a black- and-white mime. Ironically fitting, however, as the new Wolf actor utterly paled in comparison to the brilliance of Paul Giamatti.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThat brings me to the acting. Again, lifeless. The actors in the original oozed charisma and personality, whereas it is the complete opposite here.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRicky Garcia- Heu0026#39;s great as the lovable Naldo in Best Friends Whenever, but he clearly struggled with this role. I think Naldo is just easier to play, being the cartoonish Disney Channel sidekick that he is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJodelle Ferland- She was the one person who turned in a decent performance most of the time, but she is no Amanda Bynes and was held back by a lack of good material to work with.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBarry Bostwick- Iu0026#39;m not familiar with his past work, but from his credits I can tell that heu0026#39;s a respectable actor, so itu0026#39;s clear to me that he was more held back than anyone else. His performance was nothing special, but again, his material was nothing special.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBasically, this movie was written and directed by a guy who does Hallmark movies, and it showed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSimply put, it just didnu0026#39;t work.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDonu0026#39;t waste time on this remake and go watch Big Fat Liar(2002) if you havenu0026#39;t already. Youu0026#39;ll thank me later.”