Stuart Little 2

Stuart Little 2 is that rarest of movie breeds, a sequel that surpasses its charming, popular predecessor to achieve near-classic status. Mr. & Mrs. Little (Hugh Laurie, Geena Davis) are portrayed with good-natured, storybook purity, and the rest of the movie follows suit, beginning when their lonely mouse "son" Stuart (perfectly voiced by Michael J. Fox) befriends an orphaned canary (Melanie Griffith), who is reluctantly stealing from the Littles for the villainous Falcon (James Woods). The con game turns into a search-and-rescue thriller, with family cat Snowbell (Nathan Lane) quipping like a borscht-belt comedian, but the real fun of Stuart Little 2 comes from Bruce Joel Rubin's hilarious, marvelously inventive screenplay and returning director Rob Minkoff's visually dazzling combination of live action and lavish computer animation. Matching the Babe movies as a wondrous marvel of family entertainment, Stuart Little 2 is an all-ages romp that's smart, sweet, and completely irresistible. --Jeff Shannon