Something big was leftover!
Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs was a surprise and delightful hit animation film last 2009 where we last saw the destruction of the “Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator” (FLDSMDFR for short). But did it? The sequel continues where it left off. With the current clean-up of Swallow Falls, the citizens were temporarily relocated to San Franjose, California. Inventor Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) is finally being recognized as he’s invited by his idol Chester V to join The Live Corp Company where the best and brightest inventors in the world create technologies for the betterment of mankind. To become a great inventor is Flint’s dream but everything changes when he discovers that his most infamous machine is still operating and is now creating food-animal hybrids – “foodimals!” With the fate of humanity in his hands, Flint, Sam (Anna Faris), Steve (Neil Patrick Harris), Brent (Andy Samberg), Earl (Terry Crews), Manny (Benjamin Bratt) and his dad Tim (James Caan) go on a dangerously delicious mission battling hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, apple pie-thons, double bacon cheespiders and other food creatures to save the world again!
The film opens with a quite detailed recap of the first film. This is good especially for those who haven’t seen it or if you have already forgotten it. It gives you the right amount of background you needed to feed you into the story.
Most of the main cast reprised their roles. Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan, Andy Samberg and Benjamin Bratt are all back and they did great. Officer Earl Deveraux voiced by Mr. T is one of my favorite characters from the first film. I can’t forget his “I got my eye on you” line. In this film, Terry Crews takes over as the voice actor. He’s a good replacement because he was still able to channel the same spirit and quirkiness of the town’s athletic cop. I didn’t even notice that they changed actors. I only found it out during the ending credits. These characters are all easy to like.
Swallow Falls is now inhabited with foodimals. I appreciate the creativity in the designs, some Jurassic Park references and the name that were given to them. Have I mentioned how adorable the marshmallows were? I particularly love Barry the Berry who nailed a cute translator speech with Flint. I was surprised there was no happy meal toys created after them. My only problem with these creatures is during the climax. These creatures were said to be harmless and Sam fought really hard to prove it. I was bit confused that the climax seemed to prove her wrong specifically in the fate of one character thanks to the cheespider.
What I liked in this film are all the side jokes. They worked from Steve’s antics to some food gags. As for the question if this is better than the first, I made sure to watch the first film a day before I see this and I can say that the first is still the better film by a close margin. My vote goes to freshness. This sequel didn’t allow itself to bring the franchise into groundbreaking heights. It just wants to be a fun time and it’s definitely entertaining! Fans of the first will like this one. If you’re planning to bring your kids to the cinema this week, this is a film I’m sure you’ll enjoy watching with them. Kids will undoubtedly love this.
Verdict:
Are you hungry for an animated film this week? Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs 2 may give your appetite the fun it needed.
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About the movie reviewer:
Orange Magazine TV‘s newest film critic is a self-confessed movie geek. John Albert Villanueva loves movies so much, he watch every movies from the big screen and collects DVDs of classic movies. Read his other review here.
