Stuart Little 2 may be the best family movie of the 2002 summer film-going season. There's a simple reason for this - the picture seems to have been put together with the recognition that some members of the audience may be above the age of ten. Thus, there's material in this film that can be appreciated by adults without losing the children along the way. And, unlike most sequels these days, this one appears to have a reason for existing beyond the obvious (the original made money). Stuart Little 2 works, even for those who didn't see the first Stuart Little.

　　 Stuart Little 2 brings back all of the elements that made its predecessor so successful, including most of the original cast (both live-action and computer generated) and director Rob Minkoff. The screenplay, freed from the constraints of having to introduce everyone, can go off in more interesting directions. In this case, the story involves a wounded bird befriended by Stuart and a 英文影评 falcon who is hunting her. There are also issues of sibling separation, or what happens when the older child outgrows the younger one and starts spending more time with his school friends. This is a theme that many children, and more than a few adults, will be able to relate to: the point at which the younger brother or sister ceases to be a playmate and starts to be a pest. (In this case, however, Stuart literally is a "pest", although no one refers to him in those terms.)

　　 Stuart Little 2 is a simple yarn about friendship and family. As befits a straightforward story, it does not overstay its welcome, clocking in at a skinny 76 minutes. The film contains its share of warm-hearted moments, light adventure, obvious humor (jokes kids will get), and subtle comedy (jokes kids won't get, but their parents will). For me, sitting through most of this summer's so-called "family fare" has been a chore, but I will admit to enjoying Stuart Little 2, and not as an older person putting himself in a child's place, but as an adult.

　　 The talking animals are all back, and the digital technology that allows their lips to seemingly move is as effective as it was three years ago. Michael J. Fox picks up where he left off providing the voice of the lead character. Nathan Lane returns as the scene-stealing Snowball, the Littles' disgruntled cat. (About 90% of the best lines all go to Snowball, and Lane utters them with relish.) Newcomers include James Woods as the dangerous Falcon and Melanie Griffith as Margalo, Stuart's new flying friend. The live-action actors are Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie as Stuart's mom and dad, and Jonathan Lipnicki as George Little. Davis and Laurie get into the spirit of things, playing the most relentlessly cheerful parents this side of Carol and Mike Brady. Sadly, Lipnicki isn't much better here than in Like Mike. After a promising start in Jerry Maguire, Lipnicki has turned in a string of underwhelming performances.

　　 As was true of the first film, Stuart Little 2 takes place in a stylized New York City, where people are nice to one another and the animals talk. The skyline is important to the movie, but it's not the same skyline as in 1999. Perhaps unwisely, Stuart Little 2 opens with a shot of lower Manhattan, with the absence of the Twin Towers as apparent as an open wound (I don't know whether this was shot after September 11 or whether the World Trade Center was digitally removed). Then there's a switch to Midtown, with the Empire State Building standing tall and proud. One wonders whether it might have been better not to include that first shot. Unintentionally, it stirs up memories that contradict the movie's lightheartedness. Fortunately, any such associations (which will be lost on children) are quickly forgotten.

　　 The sterling nature of the special effects will have kids thinking Stuart and Margalo are real. Indeed, the computer animators went to great lengths to put a lot of the real actions of mice and birds into the way the characters look and act. Meanwhile, the humans are unreal, taking everything in with a cheerful seriousness that pokes gentle fun at old TV programs like "Father Knows Best" and "My Three Sons". And no one thinks its odd that George's little brother is actually a mouse. Watching the blas?reactions of everyone to a talking mouse is worth a smile and a chuckle, but that's only one of many reasons to see, and enjoy, Stuart Little 2.