Cloudy
with a Chance of Meatballs 2: ****/*****, or 7/10
Cloudy
with a Chance of Meatballs remains an overlooked piece of
animation from recent years. Maybe because it's not a Pixar movie,
maybe because it doesn't have as distinct a style as the likes of
Aardman or Laika's stop motion features, maybe it's because it does
have a somewhat generic quality to it at first glimpse. That said,
it's a blast of a film, a great joy from beginning to end. And
apparently it did well enough at the boxoffice to spawn a successor,
as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 has now thundered into
theaters.
Its
title is a work of deception, aimed to convince audiences this is
indeed a sequel. There's few meatballs to be found here, while the
meteorological aspect has been toned down significantly. What remains
is the characters from the first film, as well as the delightfully
whimsical humour and offbeat visual design that characterized the
previous movie. Though the directors of the original film decided to
do The LEGO Movie instead, they left the project in the
capable hands of people who understood and appreciated the quirky
subject matter.
After
his home island of Swallow Falls got covered in edible stuff during a
giant foodstorm he partially caused, young inventor Flint Lockwood
(Bill Hader) and his friends have relocated to the big city of San
Franhosé, where Flint is now working for Live Corp, a big company of
science enthusiasts created by his idol Chester V (Will Forte). While
that firm is also attempting to clean up the island to make it
livable for the human population again, strange things happen to the
mop-up crew and Chester calls on Flint for aid. Against his mentor's
advice, he recruits his friends, including his girlfriend Sam (Anna
Faris) and his stern father (James Caan), to help him in his mission.
To their astonishment, Swallow Falls has reverted to a wild,
primordial jungle, inhabited by all manner of strange animals and
plants, some friendly, others dangerous. And it's all made out of
food. Exploring this new wilderness he inadvertently created, Flint
finds that not all is as it seems and starts questioning his
allegiance. Flint soon must choose between the side of science and
cold reasoning or to stick to his irrational friends and family
instead, as the two sides of himself prove at odds over the future of
the island and its wildlife.
Cloudy
2 swaps food weather for food animals. That's not a bad thing, as
it avoids lazy repetition. No more zany weather patterns like
spaghetti tornadoes, now we have 'foodimals' like shrimpanzees and
hippotatomuses. It will come as no surprise that a lot of the jokes
are provided by such play-on-words, some ingenious, others less
clever. Nevertheless, the wonderful look of these beasties –
including the cutest strawberries ever! – clearly shows the fun the
animators must have had while designing this film. At the same time,
the characters we came to know and love from the previous film are
left intact. Sadly, not all of them are given their due, as the
emotional core of the movie is personified by Flint's idol on one
side and his father and girl on the other. The remaining supporting
characters are doing just that, without contributing to the whole
much. Though the energetic cop Earl and the multi-talented cameraman
Manny are still good for a laugh or two, they could have been left
out altogether, in favour of developing the new antagonist more
closely. No mistake is made from the beginning on that the expert
sillywalker Chester is the bad guy, though in the end, the
motivations of his diabolical schemes leave something to be desired,
considering his supposed intellect. Cloudy 2 can definitely be
accused of putting more focus on the look of the film than on the
development of its characters.
Such
slights are easily forgiven, as the film provides an excellent second
course in terms of visuals. The fabulous forests of foodstuff, the
clinically clean Live Corp headquarters, the quirky cityscapes, it
all looks delectable to behold. Whereas the beasts of the jungle are
obviously Jurassic Park inspired, their dwelling place takes a
note or two from Avatar's pages, adorned with bioluminescence
and all manner of bizarre features. This visual feast definitely sets
Cloudy 2 apart from its predecessor, which proved more simple
and primitive in this regard, giving it a look and feel all its own.
As the plot was inspired by JP, so too the eye candy is only
loosely based on Cloudy 1, instead of merely carbon copying
it.
The
elaborate visuals notwithstanding, there's a thing or two to be said
against the film's morality. Its message is one of ecological
respect, speaking out against the rape of nature for the sake of
making money. However, as cute as the foodimals may be, they remain
aberrations. An ecosystem has formed on this island, but what of the
original ecosystem that had to make place for it? Our heroes connect
to these creatures, seeing them as more than food, because they have
grown to be living, breathing entities. But what of the sardines they
happily consume, which were living, breathing entities to begin with?
Should they not also fall under the same category? Where do the
protagonists draw the line in deciding which creatures to stand up
for, and which to see as mere food? Uneasy questions like these are
formed when they do not eat animals made of food, but teach them how
to fish for normal lifeforms instead.
It
seems such questions never occurred to the writers, as the story of
Cloudy 2 is subject to the execution in terms of jokes and
visual flair. The latter works its magic throughout, awing us with
one spectacular sight after another and charming us with their
inhabitants, both human and food. The former is good for a smile all
through the piece: though the number of truly memorable jokes remains
somewhat limited compared to the previous installment, most gags
prove effective in the short bursts they seem designed for. If the
first movie was the main course, Cloudy 2 is a fine dessert, a
four-flavoured sorbet, comprised of your favourite taste, two others
you like fine, and one you never really cared for.
