It’s finally March, the weather is getting warmer, and the season of big movies has begun. Best of all, Oz the Great and Powerful, my first highly-anticipated film of the year, finally comes out this Friday. In the meantime, this week’s new Trailer Trashin’ column examines our first look at the animated sequel Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.
Premise: After the disastrous food storm in the first film, Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) and his friends are forced to leave the island town of Swallow Falls. Flint accepts an invitation from his idol Chester V (Will Forte) to join the Live Corp Company, which has been tasked to clean the island, and where the best investors in the world create technologies for the betterment of mankind. When Flint discovers that his FLDSMDFR machine is still operational and now creates mutant food beasts like living pickles, hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, and apple pie-thons, he and his friends must return to put a stop to it once and for all before these new forms of life break free from the island and invade the world.
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My take: I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that I’ve never seen the 2009 animated comedy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I’ve heard tons of good things about it, but for whatever reason, it’s just something I haven’t gotten around to. Now the first trailer for the sequel has arrived, and I think it looks like a lot of fun.
In my opinion, the biggest thing the movie has going for it is its visual inventiveness. Jungles and islands lend themselves so well to interesting scenery for movies, and adding the aspect of the environment and creatures being made of food just opens up the possibilities even more. And as absurd as the idea of the food-creatures might sound in isolation, the designs they’ve come up with really makes it work. What the whole idea of the food landscapes really makes me think of is video games like Super Mario Galaxy, which have sometimes featured levels made up of giant pieces of food.
I really like the humor on display here. As someone who loves puns more than he probably should, I got a real chuckle out of the names of the food-creatures, such as the shrimpanzees, tacodiles, and mosquitoast. I also really enjoy humor based on wordplay, so I appreciated Flint’s line “There’s a leek in the boat!” And I cracked up at the moment where Earl sheds a tear and then draws it back into his eye, which is such a brilliant touch with a character that is outwardly so stereotypically macho-looking.
A scene from “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.” © 2013 – Columbia Pictures.
The only complaints I have are really just some nitpicks here and there. The ending tag of both Flint and Steve screaming at the berry-creature went on way too long for my taste. And it’s probably just me, but I was kind of annoyed by how often we saw Flint with his eyes wide and mouth open in surprise/fear/whatever. Maybe this is a trait of his character that was established in the first film that I’m not aware of, but it stood out to me.
But those small things aside, I really like what I saw here. For a long time, I would almost automatically dismiss any computer-animated film that wasn’t coming from Pixar, but I’ve learned to be more open-minded. I heard tons of good things about the first film, which I am planning to finally see, and assuming I enjoy it, I’ll certainly be looking forward to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 when it comes out in September.
ANTICIPATION: This definitely looks like a meal worth attending.
Release Date: September 27th, 2013
Starring the voices of: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Benjamin Bratt, Terry Crews, Will Forte, and Kristen Schaal
Directors: Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn
Writers: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Erica Rivinoja
Timothy Monforton