“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs “ does have a cautionary message about gluttony, obesity and genetically-altered food. But the underlying meaning will not be foremost in your mind as you enjoy 3D hotdogs falling toward you and giant donuts jumping off the screen followed by a disaster spoof of a worldwide ‘foodalanche.’ Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) is the young man responsible for the initially welcome but eventually destructive plague of food. He has always wanted to help but his inventions often go astray, like his spray on shoes (that can’t be taken off) and his ratbirds (Ratbirds? Who wants ratbirds?). In an effort to help the ailing economy of his island home, Swallow Falls, Flint invents the Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator, which seeds clouds with food and results in food falling from the sky. His hamburger rain attracts world attention, including a weather reporter named Sam (Anna Faris).
Highly entertaining sequences include Flint’s courtship scene with Sam set inside a giant golden palace made of Jell-O, Flint’s monkey fighting giant Gummi bears and sentient roasted chickens. Although the 3D experience will keep very young children engaged for a while, the complex story and food puns (‘You may have seen a meteor shower, but you’ve never seen a meatier shower’) will eventually lose them. But with hamburgers, ice cream, steaks, and candy falling from the sky, what’s not to enjoy? 9/20/09
1 comment:
My grandchildren wanted to see this so we took them last Sunday. the 7 year old got a kick out of it, the four year old couldn't keep up with the story and the 3 year old only made it half way through. It didn't seem like a kids movie or an adult movie to me so who was this dizzying film made for. I kept checking my watch hoping it would be over soon, it went on and on. This animated story can't be compared to any of the recent successes like "Up", "Bolt", or "Panda". Just a so-so effort by Sony. I give it a 2 bagger (popcorn) out of a possible 5.
Post a Comment