PHOTO COURTESY OF CINEMABLEND.COM
After the success of the first “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” it is only natural that Hollywood would try to cash in on the loyalty of their fan base a second time. Unfortunately, there is nothing in “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” that sets it apart from its predecessor or really any other animated film made for children.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” starts off where the first movie ended. Flint Lockwood, voiced by Bill Hader, has saved his island home from his own invention: a machine that can make food out of water.
Having managed to defeat his machine, he has earned the respect of his scientific idol, the great Chester V. Voiced by Will Forte, Chester V. decides to enlist Flint in his academy of inventors.
It is not long, however, before Flint is brought back to the island to stop his machine that has risen again to create an entire ecosystem of food animals. It is up to Flint and a small group of his closest friends to get to his machine and to stop it a second time before the food animals spread throughout the world.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” succeeds in offering a nice story about a small group of friends that learn to depend on each other to overcome trials. Throughout his adventures, Flint is presented with the choice of whether or not to trust the advice of his close friends or the advice of his hero, Chester V. Eventually, Flint learns to trust the advice of his close friends and family above everyone else.
What this film doesn’t do is present these themes with any kind of original package. There isn’t anything in this movie that hasn’t been seen in other animated movies about family, acceptance and friendship. There is little original humor to be found in any of the writing or characters. A steady barrage of awkward, nerdy humor is kept up throughout the entire movie.
The animators attempted to use some physical humor especially in the character of Chester V., whose yoga-inspired flexibility in the film is comparable to that of elastic. Unfortunately, this humor gets old really fast. Add to that the fact that the writing of the characters is often not funny and almost always unoriginal, and you get a pretty unfulfilling movie.
Although “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” may be a good film to bring your younger siblings to, this film will do very little for any adult audience member who has matured past wedgie humor and jokes about bodily functions.
