Zachary Gordon (left) and Devon Bostick returns as the mischievous brother tandem in 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules'

MANILA, Philippines -  “Wimpy kid” Greg Heffley is back for more mischief and adventure with the help of his older brother in “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.”

It was in 2010 that the first installment of the book-turned-movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” authored by Jeff Kinney, came out. The movie -- which apparently was a success -- followed the story of sixth-grader Greg Heffley who enters middle school and tries to fit in, eventually becoming one of the popular kids despite a few minor drawbacks.

This time around, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” puts the spotlight on, as the title implies, Greg’s (Zachary Gordon) rockstar-wannabe older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick). Like its predecessor, “Rodrick Rules” is told from the now-seventh-grader Greg’s point of view, who narrates basically how his brother makes his life miserable, how life as the middle child sucks at times, how he tries to climb the middle school hierarchy and, yes, how he’s trying to get “the” girl. Well Greg may be a dork, but he is growing up after all.

However, it turns out Rodrick’s not all pushy and obnoxious to his little brother. Greg recounts how, despite their age and differences in interests, they manage to bond, albeit mischievously, and see each other in a new light.

Director David Bowers’ “Rodrick Rules” is a simple but entertaining comedy family movie. Adding to its plus factors is its employment of stick drawings on certain scenes where Greg is directly talking to his audience. Most likely it’s due to the appearances of these drawings that use of the green screen or some sort of controlled environment became a must, thus somehow giving the movie a bright, TV appearance.

Now, if put in Filipino context, “Rodrick Rules,” being an American film, somehow gives its audience the sense of an outsider merely observing the happenings within the movie – in short, some kids may find it not relatable. It’s not that the events aren’t realistic; it’s just that they are far from what most kids in our schools actually experience. We could easily dismiss it as exaggerating, but then again almost all output from the US contains the same thing when it comes to middle school, i.e., school hierarchy. To begin with, there’s only a handful of exclusive schools locally that have middle school and we hardly even have a strict status quo here.

On the upside, what Pinoy youngsters will find most relatable in this movie is the love-hate, cat-dog relationship between the two brothers. It’s safe to say that it’s a universal occurrence, almost a given that siblings have to, more or less, to a certain degree, hate each other. Another thing perhaps that may strike a chord is that typical middle child woe, where he’s stuck between a domineering older sibling and a cunning younger one, in addition to overly-loving-to-the-point-of-embarrassing parents.

Joining Gordon and Bostick in the cast are Robert Capron, Rachael Harris and Connor Fielding as the rest of the Heffleys (dad Frank, mom Susan and younger bro Manny, respectively). Robert Capron also reprises his role as Greg's best friend Rowley, as well as their friends and schoolmates played by Karan Brar, Grayson Russel and Laine MacNeil. Peyton List, meanwhile, is the newbie in this movie, playing Greg's love interest Holly Hills.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” opens in cinemas nationwide on April 23.