It’s evident that entertaining the kids comes first, and that makes good commercial sense. After all, according to promotional materials, “The Boss Baby” grossed more than $500 million worldwide and spawned a Netflix series, “The Boss Baby: Back in Business.”
Director Tom McGrath returns for the Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation sequel, which opens this week in cinemas and on the NBCUniversal streaming platform Peacock. Nonetheless, it hits a few emotionally rewarding notes that the original film may have missed.
In “The Boss Baby,” a youngster named Tim gets a new baby sibling, Ted, a suit-wearing, slick-talking infant voiced by Alec Baldwin who was secretly a BabyCorp executive deployed on a mission. Tim uncovered Ted’s secret and eventually collaborated with him, all the while keeping their parents in the dark.
Tim (now voiced by James Marsden of “Westworld”) and Ted (Baldwin) are grown men who have grown apart in the sequel.
Married to Carol (Eva Longoria of “Desperate Housewives” fame), Tim mostly is concerned with staying connected to his brainy 7-year-old daughter, Tabitha (Ariana Greenblatt, “Avengers: Infinity War”). Unfortunately for him, Tabitha these days idolizes her accomplished uncle more than her imaginative stay-at-home dad, and Tim’s old go-tos — such as a volcano of candy — don’t have the punch they once did.
Worse, Tabitha seemingly has outgrown a bedtime kiss on the cheek.
It’s bad. Real bad.
Tina (Amy Sedaris, Netflix’s “BoJack Horseman”), Ted’s new baby daughter, is a BabyCorp operative herself, preoccupied primarily with Tim and Ted’s alienation.
However, Tabitha has another issue on her hands: Tabitha’s elite school, the Acorn Center for Advanced Childhood, isn’t what it seems, and its mysterious leader, Dr. Erwin Armstrong (Jeff Goldblum), is up to no good.
The brothers are undergoing a de-aging process in order to penetrate Acorn in “Family Business.” While Ted reverts to childhood, Tim reaches the appropriate age to enroll in his daughter’s lessons.
The most enjoyable scenes revolve around the time the young-ified Tim is able to spend with his unaware daughter, despite the strangeness of Baldwin portraying a highly adult baby. She can easily relate with him now, and some of his previous habits don’t bother her as much.
It’s lovely and charming, and it manages to tug at the emotions a little.
Still, there’s plenty of time for all things fast-paced and crazy, many of which are of the mundane sort.
With all due respect to Baldwin, Tom’s nephew James McGrath reprises his role as toy wizard Wizzy and delivers the funniest line reads. “You shall not pass!” he exclaims, reprising his brilliant take on Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings.” As he complains of a severed arm, he also yells, “You’d never treat Lamb Lamb this way!” to Ted, referring to the treasured plush animal now in Tabitha’s custody.
That isn’t to suggest that Baldwin (“30 Rock”) doesn’t have his share of comedic moments. He’s most amusing when baby Ted is confined in a “dumb-dumb holding tank” with some other babies at Acorn, or when he’s having a more sophisticated conversation with the brilliant Goldblum (“Thor: Ragnarok”) as Armstrong, who’s keeping a fascinating secret.
In addition, Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”) and Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night TV presenter, reprise their roles as Tim and Ted’s parents and add a little something to a couple of passages.
Although there have been more visually amazing animated films in recent years, “Boss Baby: Family Business” is nonetheless enjoyable to watch thanks to its vibrant color palette.
“Family Business,” like the first “Boss Baby,” isn’t a classic, but it generates enough entertainment income to make it a recommendation for families looking for some holiday weekend amusement.
For foul humor, mild language, and some action, “The Boss Baby: Family Business” is rated PG. 1 hour and 47 minutes of running time.
