Upside Mystery 2

Upside Mystery 2 is a 2010 3D computer-animated fantasy detective film, produced by Spyglass Entertainment and Starz Animation. It is a sequel to Upside Mystery, directed by Jill Culton from a screenplay by David Koepp and stars the voices of John Travolta, Christian Slater, Michelle Rodriguez, Pierce Brosnan, Tobey Maguire, Demi Moore and Judi Dench. The sequel takes places after the events of the first film and follows two detectives and a spy in a quest to uncover a suspect of a threat in Old York.

The film was released in the United States on August 27, 2010, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2D and RealD 3D and received generally favorable reviews from critics with some considering an improvement over its predecessor. A sequel was released on September 4, 2015.

Plot
Three years after saving Los Vegas from the ruthless Becky Brutal, Hans Truman now tracks the threats in the other cities with his other detective Jason Truder and agent Stella Lee. In Old York, a restaurant is destroyed by the bomb from an unknown suspect. A professional student named Jack Poley alerts the incident to Truman, Truder, and Lee after seeing the bomb explosion. They received a trip to Old York and fly there.

When they arrived, they meet Dr. Butch Villard, the employee from his company Villard Enterprises and he gives them a tour around Old York. However, Truman also spots the destroyed restaurant from his view. After the guide is done, Jack Poley went to Truman, Truder and Lee to talk about the incident they heard before and go inside the restaurant in their case. While searching for the bomb, they met the waitress Adora Perkins. Truder discovers that the bomb is from the bar which was triggered to destroy it. Lee and Truman also tries to suspect who manufactured the bomb inside but before Poley could answer it, they all escape when another bomb exploded.

Truman and Truder goes with Jack Poley to find the manufacturer of the bomb while Lee and Perkins locate the Villard Enterprises headquarters to check inside its factory. After searching in hours, they all suspect that Villard made bombs in its headquarters to destroy restaurants. When Villard arrives and captures Perkins and Lee, Truman has flashbacks that Villard was the one who manufactured the bombs.

Villard threatens to destroy Old York, but instead he intends to escape with his plane while taking both Perkins and Lee hostages. Truman and Truder chases after him and stop Villard's plane from taking-off. Truder reveals Villard's evidence to the entire city and the detective department arrest Villard, leading Villard Enterprises to shut down for good. Afterwards, Truman credits Poley and Perkins for helping him, Truder and Lee find the suspect. While the restaurants get rebuilt, Truman, Truder and Lee went back to their detective department. Meanwhile, Truman makes his promise to Lee, continuing a relationship.

Voice cast

 * John Travolta as Hans Truman
 * Christian Slater as Jason Truder
 * Michelle Rodriguez as Stella Lee
 * Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Butch Villard
 * Tobey Maguire as Jack Poley
 * Demi Moore as Adora Perkins
 * Judi Dench as Rose Elizabeth, the detective headquarters boss

Production
Following the success of the first film, MGM announced the sequel to Upside Mystery in November 2007 with its scheduled release in 2010. In March 2008, Vicky Jenson announced that she will not return to direct the sequel due to scheduling conflicts with her live-action directorial debut Post Grad and will instead be an executive producer of the sequel. By May 2008, MGM hired Open Season co-director Jill Culton to direct and David Koepp to write its screenplay. Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum returned to serve as producers with Spyglass Entertainment banner, with animation handled again by Starz Animation. Travolta, Slater, and Rodriguez were confirmed to reprise their roles from the first film with newcomers Pierce Brosnan, Tobey Maguire, Demi Moore and Judi Dench joining in the voice cast. Marco Beltrami, who previously composed the first film, returned to compose the score for Upside Mystery 2.

Release
The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 27, 2010 in 2D and RealD 3D formats, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Marketing
The film's teaser trailer was released on March 3, 2010 and was attached into Alice in Wonderland, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, How to Train Your Dragon and Puppet Pals 2, with RealD 3D release being confirmed. Its official trailer was released on May 18, 2010 and was attached into Shrek Forever After, Marmaduke, The Karate Kid, Toy Story 3, and The Last Airbender. The final trailer was released on July 5, 2010 and was attached into Despicable Me, Ramona and Beezus, and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.

Video game
A video game based on the film was released for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, and PC on August 17, 2010. Unlike its predecessor, it was published by Activision and developed by Eurocom.

Home media
Upside Mystery 2 was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on November 23, 2010, by MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was also released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on August 15, 2017.

Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack, titled Upside Mystery 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, was released on August 20, 2010 by Varèse Sarabande.

Box office
Upside Mystery 2 grossed $218.2 million in North America and $385 million in other territories for its worldwide total of $603.2 million, making it the fifth highest-grossing animated feature film of 2010, behind Shrek Forever After ($752.6 million), Computeropolis 3 ($783.6 million), Puppet Pals 2 ($952 million), and Toy Story 3 ($1.066 billion).

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 65% based on 180 reviews, with an average rating of 6.08/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, an improvement over the first film's B+.

Sequel
A third installment titled Upside Mystery 3 was released on September 4, 2015. It was directed by The Prince of Egypt and Brave co-director Brenda Chapman, written by Josh Klausner and produced by Roger Birnbaum and Vicky Jenson. Travolta, Slater, Rodriguez and Dench also reprise their roles alongside newcomers Christina Ricci, Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt.