‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs’ review

‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ is perhaps the anti-thesis to ‘Where the Wild Things Are’: it plays it safe, doesn’t expand on any artistic boundary, and just doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Yes, it has the same amount of half-hearted giggles as just about any recent family film, yes it has the same insecure, self-doubting, but likable characters as just about any recent family film. Basically it has no personality, and although there’s some good moments it’s just way too bland to set itself apart from recent films.

It’s yet another “believe in yourself and others will believe in you” family film. Okay Hollywood, family movies with a moral is great, I’m all for it, but reinstating the same message in every single film this year (Fame, Monsters vs. Aliens, Paul Blart, etc) is annoying and shows a lack of creativity.

On the other hand, the plot to ‘Cloudy’ is rather interesting. If the title (or the hundreds of commercials everyday) hasn’t helped you catch on, the film is about an inventor, Flint Lockwood, who makes a machine that converts water into food. Somehow, he expands it to encompass weather surrounding his small town, and soon raining pizza and cheeseburgers is a regular thing on the nightly weather channel. But soon the machine spins out of control, putting everyone on Earth in danger. Also, Flint develops a crush on a local reporter, Sam.

This is a gorgeous film, no doubt about it. The bright colors and beautiful (if virtual) vistas will win over little kids everywhere. One major gripe I have with this film: The lead voice actor, Bill Hader. He’s from Saturday Night Live, and it’s hard not to be distracted. He sounds over-enthusiastic to the point of sarcasm. However unintentional it might be, it’s really distracting. However, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, and even Mr. T all voice various characters.

‘Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs’ is mildly funny, and decent entertainment, and looks great, but go through the last 5 years and you can find several animated films matching that exact description. I want more variety in childrens films, or at least more memorable ones. This will be long forgotten, that is until the inevitable sequel. C-

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