Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2 Movie Review!!!

Is this the next best thing since Despicable Me 2??? Read on to find out!!!

Cloudy with a chance of garbage part 2 is finally here, the sequel that nobody really wanted.  They probably should have put that as the slogan on the poster. 

Gone is the enchanting story telling that we’re used to from Disney and Pixar, the kind of tale which can captivate the hearts of young and old alike.  Instead we have a generic animated movie, which will likely appeal more to kiddies, though they probably won’t pick up on the mostly unfunny in-jokes intended for the adults.

The story continues pretty much immediately off the heels of the first movie.  Thanks to his out of control invention, the food storm from the original film has left the hometown of our mostly unlikable hero, Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), uninhabitable.  Enter mysterious science super company The Live Corp to clear up the mess. 

It just so happens that Chester V, head of Live Corp, is Flint’s childhood hero and role model.  Live Corp is clearly intended as some kind of parody of Apple with Chester V posturing around like a sinister Steve Jobs rip-off, something that will like be completely lost on the younger audiences. 

It isn’t long before Chester V needs Lockwood’s help to try and get the ravenous food-animals in the town under control.  Lockwood goes in with his friends and dad in-tow.  Queue some references to Jurassic Park and some food related humour, not to mention squeaky voiced characters which really felt like rip-offs of Despicable Me’s Minions. 

With time, Flint comes to realize that not everything on their mission is as it seems.  Will they get out alive, will there be a happy ending, does anyone care?

To be fair, this isn’t the worst animated movie by a long shot, but I do feel that these studios are getting more and more lazy.  They should stop assuming that anything animated will be an immediate success and be reminded that you still need a decent story.

Cloudy 2 is just too forgettable.  Replay value is a big deal for me.  Imagine six months down the line, if I saw this playing on cable TV while channel surfing, would I stop and watch this movie or would I keep surfing?  Answer; I would keep surfing. 

Even in an animated movie I expect to make some kind of connection with the main characters.  Flint’s dad, voiced by James Caan, is easily the best character in this while the leads are mostly bland and, unfortunately, forgettable.  And why has Terry Crews replaced Mr. T???

The 3D also left a fair bit to be desired, although the issues with lateral image blurring that I saw may be due to a fault of the theatre rather than the movie itself.

If for some reason you’re a die-hard fan of the original, then sure, check this out.  It’s an improvement over the original but that’s really not saying much.

For everyone else, despite a couple of amusing scenes, avoid.

Rating 2.5 out of 5.

 

Bobby