While no great shakes as a comic fantasy, the original Tooth Fairy offered up a fairly imaginative comedy putting a bruiser athlete (Dwayne Johnson) into tights and fairy wings taking on the duties of the title being. Its made-for-video sequel Tooth Fairy 2 finds another analogous individual to put into tights and tutu: this time professional redneck Larry the Cable Guy but with the same basic premise. This family comedy is sweet-natured and innocuous entertainment for anyone interested in seeing the same basic premise repeated. Only the actors are different and the budget is (notably) tinier.
Tooth Fairy 2 (Blu-ray)
Directed by Alex Zamm
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Year: 2011
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Spanish
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, French
Region: A
MSRP: $ 29.99
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Review Date: March 5, 2012
The Film
2.5/5
After destroying a little boy’s belief in the tooth fairy at his girl friend Brooke’s (Erin Beute) after school rec center, Larry Guthrie (Larry the Cable Guy) is recruited by head tooth fairy Nyx (Brady Reiter) to become a temp fairy and forced to collect ten teeth over a specified period to work off his debt. Brooke, continually disappointed that Larry remains a man-child instead of accepting the responsibilities of an adult, becomes engaged to local wealthy financier Beauregard Billings (David Mackey). Larry, distracted by his continuing feelings for Brooke and unenthusiastic about his new fairy duties, scoffs at his job, but one or two successful missions to collect teeth prove to Larry that he can meet a challenge and begins to make a new man (and fairy) out of him.
Ben Zazove’s screenplay paints all of the characters in broad strokes: “Bo” is super attractive but a skunk underneath and Larry, for all his foolishness, is a thoughtful, caring guy, something Brooke will realize once she learns to look beneath each man’s exterior and not take things on face value. The film’s lessons are small ones but certainly simple enough for parents to discuss with their children if they’re watching the silly shenanigans together as a family. All of the expected slapstick farce is here: a “snowball” fight with flour, fairy fart jokes (the glitter involved doesn’t seem to make the smell any different), different people seeing Larry in his hot pink tutu and wings with their shocked, dumbfounded reactions, Larry prancing clumsily to the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” To be fair, director Alex Zamm keeps things moving and has a funny visual sequence where Nyx tries Larry in a succession of pink fairy outfits once he protests about the tutu and tights. There’s also an animated fairy card that will make you smile. In addition, there’s a cute little pig who does some funny tricks. There’s nothing memorable here, but it’ll likely entertain the young ones for a little while, and Larry the Cable Guy goes down easier and is a bit less physically intimidating than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was even if one misses top stars like Julie Andrews giving the film’s star his orders.
As expected, Larry the Cable Guy’s character matures a bit over the course of the film, and the comedian does fine with the unexceptional material. The film’s biggest breakout performer is young Brady Reiter as head fairy Nyx. She plays her scenes with complete control and authority, and she seems wonderfully natural in front of a camera. David Mackey plays the smarmy villain with the expected bravado and at one point doffs his shirt to show a very chiseled physique. Erin Beute doesn’t do anything special with the uptight, judgmental Brooke whose changes of heart seem abrupt and unfair (but these are more a problem with the writing than the acting).
Video Quality
4.5/5
The transfer has been framed at 1.78:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Color saturation levels are stable and rich with all of that pink never becoming too hot. Flesh tones remain natural throughout. Sharpness is very good. Only black levels seem a bit less than optimum, but this is not a tremendous problem with this crystal clear transfer. The film has been divided into 24 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is unquestionably frontcentric. There is very little done with the rear channels in this audio mix with the music and sound effects spread instead across the front three channels in not very notable fashion. Dialogue is rooted to the center channel and is always discernible.
Special Features
2.5/5
Unless otherwise noted, the featurettes are presented in 1080p.
“Why Do I Lose My Baby Teeth?” finds Larry the Cable Guy in character as the temp tooth fairy answering basic questions about baby teeth in this 4 ¾-minute feature.
“Return to Fairyland – Making Tooth Fairy 2” offers interviews with the film’s director, producer, and principal actors talking about the five week production schedule of the movie and singing each other’s praises. It runs 9 minutes.
“Larry the Hairy Fairy” has the film’s costume designer describing Larry’s various pink outfits worn during the film. This runs 4 ¾ minutes.
“Tooth Fairy 2 Introduces Crusher the Pig” is the EPK featurette for the film with the director, producer, and stars describing the film’s plot featuring clips from the movie. It runs 3 minutes.
There are eleven deleted scenes and alternate takes which are gathered together in a 10-minute montage and which can’t be viewed individually. It’s in 480i.
The disc offers promo trailers for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Marley & Me: The Puppy Years, The Glee Concert, and Strawberry Shortcake.
In Conclusion
2.5/5 (not an average)
A safe and silly family comedy, Tooth Fairy 2 doesn’t offer the stars or production values of the original feature film, but for those who want something innocuous for viewing with their very young school age children, this will likely fill the bill.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
