Thoughts on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

    It's really quite amazing what you can do with food. I mean, you get pancakes from some powdery white stuff, variously coloured liquids and the goopy stuff you find inside eggs; it's genius! And it doesn't stop there - food has also been the inspiration for more than one animated movie, the most recent being Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, the sequel to the 2009 hit movie. While I enjoyed the first movie, it's certainly not my favourite, but it's fairly enjoyable and fun to watch. 

    Before I even talk about the story and characters, I have to give the look of this film high HIGH praise! Everyone I'm sure by now knows that the plot involves Flint and his gang returning to their island to find that the FLDSMDFR has mutated the food into living creatures - foodimals - that have taken over the island, creating its own little biosphere right on top of the old infrastructure. This island is definitely the best part about the film, so big props to the visual development team. The foodimals looked great, trying to guess their names before the characters did was fun and the island itself and the various mini-ecosystems were incredibly creative. 

    As for the plot itself... well, let's just say I'm not as impressed. While it was a fun and entertaining movie, it just didn't hold my attention too well. It was far too predictable; acceptable for the inevitable toddler crowd, but less suitable for anyone past grade 2. You know from the beginning who the villain was going to be, who was going to have a last minute change of heart, and the motives of nearly every character. There were some bits that were slightly draggy as well (time spent taking in the visuals) and the character development was dismal at best. While Flint had the most development, it was of the predictable sort as well, and it came up and was resolved far too quickly for my taste (coming and going throughout perhaps a 20-30 minute span). Most of the other characters were quite useless; the chicken guy, the policeman, whose names I can't even remember, and even Sam and the father were a tad redundant at some points. I liked the villain, Chester V, who was a sort of caricature of Steve Jobs; I actually really enjoyed the subtle hints and connections they made to Apple (constant innovations, being a "hip" company, etc). Other than that,  he's the traditional animated movie villain, only slightly more transparent about his motives. Although the animation on him was great, I loved those wacky arm movements!

    All in all, though far from the best animated movie of the year, not the worst either. It's a harmless, visually stunning, predictable flick, good for renting from Netflix or The Movie Network on a suitably rainy afternoon. 

Star Rating:

Thoughts anyone?