'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days' -- 1 1/2 stars

PG; 1:34 running time

Why are the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movies so much less fun, and funny, than the best of the books created by Jeff Kinney? On the page, Kinney's illustrations, those stick-figure humiliations and angsty margin doodles allegedly drawn by the exasperated protagonist, Greg Heffley, hold the key to why "Wimpy Kid" took off with so many millions of young and angsty seekers of humiliation comedy. Perpetual, grinding setbacks and massive, why-me? preteen injustices are more amusing in stick-figure form. -- Michael Phillips

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August 2, 2012