| Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back | |
| Music: | Ack Kinmonth |
| Editing: | Michelle McGilvray |
| Studio: | Like a Photon Creative |
| Runtime: | 80 minutes |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back (Combat Wombat: Double Trouble in the UK) is a 2023 Australian animated superhero film directed by Richard Cussó and Tania Vincent and written by Dominic Morris.[1] The film is a sequel to Combat Wombat and the fourth film in Like a Photon Creative's The Tales from Sanctuary City franchise. The film addresses the topics of mind control and virtual reality.[2]
Maggie and Sweetie launch an app which allows animals of the city to call them for help. But the missions involve baby-sitting and keeping an eye on a juvenile chameleon delinquent, Skylar. Meanwhile, Lenny Glick, a chameleon scientist, is trying to control all animals through a little device that makes them enter a virtual world where their wishes are fulfilled but where they abandon their freedom and power. Lenny thus hopes to gather enough mental energy to give virtual life to his late partner. Maggie, Sweetie and Skylar investigate the first cases involving elderly victims of the scheme but Maggie herself is set up and sent to jail for entering a museum. With the help of Augustus, Frogman and Reginald, Sweetie enters the jail where Maggie is detained and they go to Lenny's office. Soon all of them falls under Lenny's control. However, Skylar, who is Lenny's daughter, convinces him to let them all free and accept an imperfect world.
The film premiered at the Brisbane International Film Festival in 2023 but was only theatrically released in Australia on 29 February 2024, distributed by Universal Pictures and Maslow Entertainment.[3]
The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Cath Clark of The Guardian wrote that it was "an overly fast animation about a chameleon taking over the world with computer wizardry feels bizarrely inappropriate for children under five".[4] James Croot, writing for The Post, gave the film a negative review, noting that it "suffers from a severe case of sequelitis".[5] The Canberra Times reviewer gave the film two stars and felt that whilst the film was "colourful and keeps moving" it was "loud and heavy handed".[6]