My Movie Review on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) · 11:32pm Nov 16th, 2021
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the 2nd installment of this year's "Thanksgiving Treat", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".
Here's the rundown of it:
Flint Lockwood is a resident of a small-town island called Swallow Falls. All his life he wanted to be an inventor, but every time he created something he'd cause more harm than good. His own father, Tim Lockwood, would even go so far as to say that Flint should quit inventing. The only friend Flint actually has is his pet monkey, Steve, who communicates through a thought-translator that Flint made.
However, Flint finally manages to create an invention that actually works: The Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Food Dynamic Food Replicator (FLDSMDSFR for short). A machine that converts water into food, functioning in the stratosphere by condensing water-filled clouds into food weather. The success of his invention transforms Flint from an unpopular nobody to a popular celebrity, and the best part is that the people of Swallow Falls won't have to be stuck eating disgusting sardines for the rest of their lives. The new food weather also brings success to an aspiring meteorologist named Sam Sparks, who is regularly accompanied by a cameraman named Manny.
As time goes by, though...trouble slowly develops.
This movie was another little something that I've been wanting to review for years, specifically as part of my "Thanksgiving Treat" since the concept involves food. In spite of this, I've put off doing so in favor of reviewing other things.
"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is also a movie that I've watched on more than one occasion before, from seeing it in theaters to eventually buying it on DVD later. Overall, it's something that I'm not a stranger to in the slightest.
Having finally saw "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" again after all these years, I will admit that I didn't think it was perfect. The prime nitpick I noted was that the dialogue and voice usage was a little too all over the place. In this case, there were moments in the movie where there'd be unnecessary quotes that would sadly cause a distraction from the scenes in question, such as this one part where "Baby" Brent McHale was running with scissors during the time a sardine-themed amusement park was collapsing.
Other than that, the film is still one of the most fun animated projects I've ever watched!
For instance, the voice acting, characters, and character development were brilliant.
Regardless of what I said about the dialogue and voice usage, the cast members sounded like they were having a lot of fun portraying their parts. Their comedic-timings were on-point, the personalities they gave their characters helped them be distinguished, and the way they managed to get emotionally-invested while ensuring their performances fit the film's tone was impressive. The castings as a whole were quite inspired, because while the performers were unusual choices at first glance they all fit their roles surprisingly well. A couple of examples were Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood and Mr. T as Officer Earl Deveraux, both of whom nailed their dialogue and comedic-timings.
The characters and character development in articulation were wonderful as well.
Amidst a story that doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time, the characters all proved to be likable and memorable in the best way, with great personalities to boot. The developments they had throughout the film were surprisingly compelling, especially the character growths of Flint, Sam, Earl, and Tim Lockwood.
There are a couple of characters in this movie that I wasn't fond off, mainly Mayor Shelbourne and Patrick Patrickson the anchorman since they were relatively one-dimensional, but they weren't bad enough to be reasonable detractors other than me just not liking them.
Moving on...
The direction and screenplay by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were well-done too.
Despite the story not being entirely based off the actual book by Judi and Ron Barrett, Lord and Miller did a great job at being faithful to the concept while giving their own take on the story. In this case, the film is about food raining from the sky instead of water, just like the Barrett couple's book. Unlike the book, though, the food falls from the sky because of the machine Flint made. Also, while the food does get bigger and the weather gets out of control, unlike in the book, this happens because of the machine being overused.
A big thing I couldn't help but note was that the people's overuse of the FLDSMDSFR and their desire for more food (especially the mayor's) was a perfect representation of greed, selfishness, and carelessness. And as the film progresses, the price for what really happens when we as people act on those things becomes incredibly apparent.
Along with this, the humor that the movie had was funny and well-worked, even if it tries too hard to be so. I loved how Lord and Miller were able to make any gag entertaining, and there was a sense of ridiculousness to it all that was unexpectedly innocent. The film wasn't without heart and emotion either, each of which were particularly generated by the developing romance between Flint and Sam and the troubled relationship between Flint and his Dad.
The animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks was astonishing, if I may add.
The directors and animators may not have created a visual style that'd give the likes of Pixar or Dreamworks a run for their money, but their work on the animation was still vibrant and enjoyable to watch. The colors and textures presented in this movie were beautifully made, the character animation was fun to watch, and the landscapes and settings were spectacular in their own way. As I watched the movie, I also noted that the visual style was reminiscent to the works of Tex Avery, which is why I have a feeling that Lord, Miller, and the animators were most likely influenced by Tex Avery's cartoons. This prospect is something I deeply enjoyed because it worked so well for this movie.
Finally, the music by Mark Mothersbaugh was marvelous.
Mothersbaugh is definitely no James Newton Howard, but he certainly did know how to make an impression. He created a score that reflected the film's tone while still making music that was emotionally-invested. The crescendo his melodies had particularly aided them in being cinematic and larger than life, like when food was falling from the sky for the first time.
As a little word of note, I'd like to add that the "Raining Sunshine" song was one of the most stupendous songs I ever heard. The melodies were beautiful, the lyrics were well-worked, and Miranda Cosgrove's singing was emotionally heartwarming every step of the way.
In conclusion, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" isn't perfect. But, it's definitely one of the best films made by Sony Pictures Animation, as well as a perfect starting point for Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's careers as all-out filmmakers. It's also a movie that I highly recommend for ages 11 and older, mostly because the concept and the situations with the characters are ones that I believe pre-teens and older could understand and identify with more.
So, I rate "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" 4½ out of 5 stars.
I like this movie.
That movie kinda gave me anxiety as a kid, but as an adult, I love this movie, because while the book version showed that nature can be dangerous as long as you don't get out of the way, the movie version played a Michael Crichton tone where technology can go horribly wrong and the consequences of playing God.
Even the small moment in this movie made me laugh.
I absolutely love this movie and would give it 5 stars total! Never saw anything wrong with it.
5608039
5608046
5608052
My review on the sequel is ready, in case you guys are interested.
5608735
Eh, didn't care too much for the sequel.
I just re-watched it last night. It is still a fun, awesome movie to this day.