The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

When their town’s corrupt mayor sets out to transform their beautiful park into a grotesque money-grubbing tourist trap, the squirrels (voiced by Will Arnett and Katherine Heigl) and their animal pals swing into action to thwart his nefarious plans. Feature-length animation hits rock-bottom yet again with this who-cares sequel. It has all the traits that made The Nut Job so completely pointless—complicated non-story, dull characters, lame sight gags, lamer puns—then ups the ante with an in-your-face nastiness, stomping and bellowing at the top of its obnoxious voice, that amounts to a sadistic form of audience abuse (especially in 3-D). Directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote with Bob Barlen, Scott Bindley and Daniel Woo. Remember those names, and be warned: they’re already at work on The Nut Job 3. J.L.