Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs Review

Now its time for a review for a recently released movie. The movie is the cgi family comedy, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." This movie is based on the children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett about a small island town where food rains down from the sky.

I remember reading the book back when I was a kid and when I saw the trailer this film, my expectations were quite low. After all, how many kids books adapted into feature films have really worked? Plus, the movie looked like a very loose adaptation, giving more backstory to the concept and making substantial changes to the art style. It ultimately replaced the fantasy/fairy tale themed style from the book with a more science fiction themed direction. I am happy to say, however, that I was very pleasantly surprised with how the movie turned out. It is a funny, exciting, and a very cute film that is entertaining for all ages.

The movie centers around a young inventor named Flint Lockwood. His whole life, Flint would create strange machines and inventions that despite being very innovative, would generally malfunction and cause chaos. His late mother believed in his abilities and encouraged to keep on inventing but his father was less than supportive. His most recent invention was a device that could turn ordinary water into various foods. After a slight mishap with the machine, he accidentally launches it in the sky, where it begins to absorb moisture from the air and causes it to start raining food. At first, the whole town loves this edible weather, but when the device begins to malfunction, the food grows to dangerous sizes as it rains down on the town.

Generally, when I review family films, the first thing I look for is whether it is good for both children and adults. I can gladly say that this movie definitely does. It is full of very clever and funny jokes that are appropriate for kids but can make the adults laugh as well. The third act, when the film becomes a food-themed disaster movie, has many amusing homages to classic B-Movies and recent disaster films such as those made by Michael Bay and Roland Emmerich. It also pokes fun at some of the cliches every now and then. The animation is pretty good throughout the film. The characters have a somewhat familiar look to them that, while not particularly innovative, did the job well. The the attention paid to the detail of the food catastrophes, however, was very well done. The voice acting is spot on. SNL Alum Bill Hader plays Flint alongside Anna Faris as a young weather reporter who also serves as Flint's primary love interest. Both do their voices well and in accordance with the characters' personalities. One of the stand out voice actors is Mr. T as Earl, a local police officer. I can't think of any voice that could fit the character better than Mr. T. Bruce Campbell, a personal favorite of mine, was a fitting actor for the voice of the town's mayor, who serves as one of the main antagonists. James Caan, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, and Al Roker also add to the all star voice ensemble.

In terms of complaints, there are a few things I can think of but nothing major. The manner in which the story develops is very typical. I'll try not to spoil anything but rather say it has the feel of a typical Disney animated movie (even though its not a Disney film). Some of the jokes and lines are quite corny as well. There were a lot of food puns that, while amusing at first, got kind of old quickly.

So while the movie probably won't win too many awards, that probably won't bother most families who go to see this movie. Any complaints I have for this film are very minor and I would definitely recommend this movie for kids and families of all ages.

My Rating: 4/5