Hollywood’s dog days have indeed arrived with this sloppy third helping of the family-friendly series derived from Jeff Kinney’s graphic novels, which has racked up $147 million in worldwide ticket sales for the first two films against a reported combined budget of $36 million.
This time around, eighth-grader Greg (Zachary Gordon, who seems to be developing bags under his eyes) is under pressure from his dad (Steve Zahn, considered cutting edge a decade ago) to spend the summer doing something other than playing video games. So he lies about having a job at a country club, where he passes days in chaste pursuit of a blond airhead (Peyton List).
David Bowers, who took over direction with the second installment, flubs a series of seemingly idiot-proof comic setups at an amusement park, on a camping trip and at a Sweet 16 party where our hero’s bullying musician brother (Devon Bostick) wreaks havoc. I’d call “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days” harmless if it weren’t for some totally unnecessary gay-panic jokes that could actually encourage bullying.