Sony Pictures Animation have been desperately trying to break the CGI business, and crack the top five in the animation world, but have so far disappointed. Open Season, Monster House and Surf's Up all did moderately at the Box Office, but were nothing compared to Finding Nemo, Shrek or the The Lion King; and deservedly so. Sony lacks the human touch that Pixar brings to all of its film, relying on cheap gags and a relatively well known cast. Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs is the best Sony Animation film so far; but for all its awareness of today's big issues, it lacks a certain sparkle to propel it that hall of animation fame.
Bill Hader voices Flint Lockwood, a small time inventor, who just can't perfect his creations. These include ratbirds that have spread across the world, and walking televisions, that burst into flames, and terrorise the neighbours. Flint is despised by everybody, and is a disappointment to his father, Tim Lockwood (James Caan), who owns a local sardine store. Flint finally manages to make one of his inventions work though, when he learns how to convert water into food.
Now this is where the film gets a little sloppy. This whole description of how Flint is a failure, and how he stumbles across something brilliant is all played out in ten minutes, which doesn't allow the viewer to fully connect with the characters straight away. As the film progresses, we learn to cheer the heroes, and boo the bad guys, but the film never fully recovers from the opening segment.
When the townsfolk hear about Flint's invention, they all believe it will cause yet another disaster for their home town, Swallow Falls. Luckily, it turns out that Flint's converter machine works like a charm, and allows everyone not to have to eat disgusting sardines all day due to some stupidly unexplained reason the writers briefly mention. This makes Flint a hero, but fame comes at a price, and like every Utopia before it, something awful is sure to happen.
The film is definitely fun, but not funny. Everything goes along at a zippy pace, but never pulls any punches when it comes to the majority of the jokes. The voice cast try to add some zing to the proceedings, especially Bill Hader as Flint, cementing his status as comedy gold, even with just his voice, and also Anna Faris, as the cute but brainy weathergirl reporting on this major food fall. The recurring joke about her being 'dumb' is again overused, but a nice twist to this story is well executed in one of the film's funniest scene; the house made of jell-o scene.
I'm surprised so many adults really like this film, as it is incredibly childish. Maybe that's the appeal of this; pure escapism. I and my friend both found the film unsatisfying in comparison to other animation films of recent times. I would say that the film completely lacks empathy with the audience. Although it's a brave statement for a film to be saying obesity is wrong for a junk food devouring audience, you can't help feeling this is a patronising topic. Many people have said that this will make some audience members uncomfortable, and those with self esteem issues feel even worse about themselves. I do think people have taken this issue way too seriously, but it is true that the film doesn't realise when to stop.
The animation is mediocre for such a big budget film ($100M) but the attention to detail is superb. In Imax 3D, you wish the film would just pause of a second so you can dissect everything on the screen in front of you. The 3D is used in small amounts, and isn't really worth seeing, as the 2D version is just as satisfying.
Overall, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is good entertainment, and is the only family choice around for the next three weeks, so expect good holds on the Box office chart for the coming weeks. Hopefully, Where the Wild Things are will be more intricate and groundbreaking for this genre. I give Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3 out of 5
*Special thanks to VUE Cinemas for their continuing support with my reviews.*
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