Calvin and Hobbes 2: Rosalyn Rising

Calvin and Hobbes 2: Rosalyn Rising (Often shortened to Rosalyn Rising) is a 3D animated film and the sequel to 2039's The Calvin and Hobbes Movie. The film involves Calvin and Susie becoming rivals again and Calvin's baby sitter Rosalyn becoming a super-villain thanks to Calvin's latest invention. The movie featured an ensemble cast of Roman Griffin Davis, Ben Stiller, Emma Fuhrmann, Elizabeth Olsen, Bradley Whitford, Maggie Smith, and Rebecca Mader. It received positive reviews from critics but was a box office bomb. A sequel was made, Calvin and Hobbes: The Final Chapter.

Plot
Calvin decides to "go for the gusto" at school in order to become a biologist. He puts on his Stupendous Man costume, despite Hobbes' apprehension. Calvin smuggles the costume to school using his lunchbox, and also brings one of his dad's socks that holds a lot of worms.

During a math test, Calvin leaves to get water, puts on his costume, and pours the worms into the pot of noodles that is boiling for lunch. At lunch, he and Susie combine their money to get more food out of the vending machine. However, everyone who had noodles starts getting sick, and an ambulance is called. Calvin tries to flee the school, wearing his costume so no one will see his face. The sick students and the pot of noodles are being brought to the ambulance, but Calvin steals the noodles and throws them at the ambulance drivers and Miss Wormwood, causing them to get covered in worms and diseased noodles. Calvin then tries to drive away in the ambulance, but ends up crashing into the school. He runs into the school, takes off all his clothes, and locks himself in a utility closet before being found by Miss Wormwood. Calvin tells her that someone stole his clothes and caused all the chaos, and distracts Wormwood by pointing over her shoulder and saying the person who did it is there. Calvin runs away, not realizing he blamed Susie. Everyone is sent home and Susie tells Calvin they are no longer friends.

Calvin shows Hobbes his latest invention: the Transmogrifier Gun. The gun uses voice recognition technology instead of a dial, but tends to go off whenever you say the name of an animal or object. It also takes the commands very literally, turning Calvin's curtains into a Golden Retriever with its tail on fire when he said "hot dog". Calvin's parents hire Rosalyn to babysit Calvin while they go to a movie. Calvin puts on his Stupendous Man costume again and enters a fantasy where he is fighting "Baby Sitter Girl", but Rosalyn just locks him and Hobbes outside.

The next day, Calvin and Hobbes restart G.R.O.S.S. and plan to throw buckeyes at Susie, but when Hobbes states that Calvin is "on the rebound after a breakup", they get into a fight. The fight ends after Hobbes saves Calvin from falling out of a tree. Calvin and Hobbes plan to sneak into Susie's house and attack her there.

Calvin's parents go to another movie and hire Rosalyn again. Calvin flushes Rosalyn's math notes down the toilet as revenge for locking him out, and she chases him and Hobbes into their room. When Rosalyn yells that she's going to kill Calvin, bring him back to life, and kill him again, Calvin states she's acting like Baby Sitter Girl, causing his Transmogrifier Gun to go off. The beam bounces off the window, goes through the door's keyhole, and hits Rosalyn, giving her the brain and powers of a supervillain. Rosalyn attempts to get the Transmogrifier Gun so she can use its atomic power cell (The battery for the TV remote with pieces of the original Transmogrifier taped on) for her secret evil plot. Calvin and Hobbes try to escape out the window, but Rosalyn uses her Psycho-Beam to paralyze them and take the Transmogrifier Gun.

Rosalyn puts Calvin and Hobbes in a deathtrap and leaves, but Calvin's parents come home and free them. However, they don't believe Calvin when he tells them Rosalyn got turned into a supervillain. Calvin tries to get Susie to let him use her computer to look for Rosalyn, but she is still mad at him for the Noodle Incident. They end up turning the Transmogrifier into a Duplicator and make duplicates of Calvin to search the area for Rosalyn. Eventually, they find her in an abandoned warehouse building a spaceship in order to push the moon in front of the sun to cause a permanent solar eclipse. Hobbes and the Duplicates distract Rosalyn (who has rejected the name Baby Sitter Girl) while Calvin steals the Transmogrifier Gun.

In order to sneak into Susie's house for the G.R.O.S.S. plot, Calvin and Hobbes send one of the Duplicates to distract Susie while they sneak in with the other Duplicates. They discover Susie is in a lot of pain because of the Noodle Incident, worried she'll be blamed. Calvin and Hobbes become reluctant to carry through with the plan, but the Duplicates signal to attack Susie with buckeyes and then blast her with the hose. Calvin attempts to Transmogrify the Duplicates, but the Transmogrifier Gun doesn't work and Calvin discovers, to his horror, that Rosalyn had removed the power cell, which was all she needed to power her spaceship.

Susie throws Calvin, Hobbes, and the Duplicates out of her house and after the Duplicates plan to blow up Susie's house, Calvin kicks them out. Calvin and Hobbes use their wagon to go to Rosalyn's warehouse. Susie goes over to Calvin's house to tell on him and realizes Calvin and Hobbes have gone to stop Rosalyn after a conversation with one of the Duplicates. She pursues them on her own wagon and brings the Duplicator, which has been turned back into the Transmogrifier. Calvin and Hobbes arrive at the warehouse and Hobbes fights Rosalyn while Calvin tries to rip out the power cell. Hobbes loses his fight with Rosalyn, who jumps onto the ship and knocks Calvin off just before the ship launches.

Susie arrives and Transmogrifies Calvin into Stupendous Man, allowing him to fly after the ship. The Duplicates hold Susie and Hobbes hostage to get revenge on Calvin for kicking them out, but Calvin is able to save his friends and throw the Duplicates at the ship, damaging the guidance instruments. Rosalyn attacks Calvin on a hoverboard, but Hobbes deflects her Psycho-Beam using a mirror, sending the evil baby sitter flying into her ship. Calvin turns the ship away from the moon, forcing Rosalyn and the Duplicates to spend the rest of their life in space. Susie, however, does not forgive Calvin for what he's done to her. Hobbes tells Calvin he'll get Susie back.

Cast

 * Roman Griffin Davis as Calvin/Stupendous Man and the Duplicates
 * Ben Stiller as Hobbes


 * Emma Fuhrmann as Susie Derkins
 * Elizabeth Olsen as Calvin's mom
 * Bradley Whitford as Calvin's dad
 * Maggie Smith as Miss Wormwood
 * Rebecca Mader as Rosalyn

Reception
Like its predecessor, Rosalyn Rising received positive reviews. Fans appreciated the new direction it went for, as did Bill Waterson. Critic Kenneth Turan said "it goes all over the place and is very unpredictable, but that's okay. When it all comes down to it, it's an amazing film with great visual effects". Lisa Schwarzbaum said "The story has a talking tiger and a supervillainess trying to take over the world, yes, but the emotional conflict is what makes the movie special. It's hard to find a relationship more complex and conflicted than the one in this movie, and when the emotions lag, the movie's visual effects more than make up for it".

Peter Travers said "It's an improvement on the original... but it would be hard not to be. This movie is just a jumbled mess of superheroes and a stupid six-year-old's emotions. I really don't see how anyone could appreciate this movie". After that, he was forced to lock himself in his house to avoid the angry mobs carrying torches and pitchforks.

Soundtrack
Like the previous film, Arcade Fire chose the soundtrack and contributed a song. However, The Defender of Freedom is an original piece.

All music written by Arcade Fire.
 * 1) Imagination- Main theme
 * 2) Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) - Escape from school
 * 3) No Cars Go - Attack on Rosalyn
 * 4) The Defender of Freedom - Stupendous Man's theme, plays whenever he appears
 * 5) Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - G.R.O.S.S. plot
 * 6) City With No Children - The heist
 * 7) Everything Now - Hobbes' fight
 * 8) Modern Man - Closing theme