REVIEW: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

People say Texas weather is unpredictable, but at least here you don’t have to worry about getting hit by a flying steak (unless your cooking really sucks or you insulted your guests)! I just watched “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”, an adaptation of Judi and Ron Barret’s book, written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (in 3-D!). It follows Flint Lockwood (Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs’ Bill Hader), an unsuccessful inventor whose first “successful” invention goes horribly wrong. He is joined by an over-eager weather reporter, Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) in his quest to save the world from becoming a one big all-you-can-eat buffet, and to save the town from a greedy, gluttonous mayor (Bruce Campbell). This was my first time watching ANY movie in 3-D, and it definitely wasn’t a disappointment.

This movie was just as funny and cool as I expected it to be. Even my little brothers think it’s awesome (for once, the baby didn’t fall asleep during the movie, which has got to be a great sign!…he fell asleep almost as soon as it was over though)! I think this movie was amazing in that the humor didn’t ruin the serious or emotionally important moments, even though they were mixed together in a lot of the scenes.

My favorite scenes in the movie probably all had something to do with Steve the monkey (Neil Partrick Harris), or Earl and Cal (Mr. T. and Bobb’e J. Thompson!), because those were the scenes that were funniest, and yet they still had a lot of emotional weight, especially with Earl and Cal. Another thing I liked about “Cloudy” was that the animation was absolutely perfect for watching in 3-D, but it also looks wonderful in 2-D, too! It’s one of those movies that isn’t just funny the first time, that’ll probably always surprise you with laughs, even if you’re watching it for the 247th time in a row. I know quite a few movies (you know who you are!) who can’t make that boast without looking like a bunch of flaming liars.

As I said, “Cloudy” was directed and written by Phil Lord, who also directed, produced, and wrote “Clone High”. He was joined in the directing and writing process by Chris Miller, who also produced, wrote and directed “Clone High”. Apparently, these two are quite a team! I think the movie was wonderfully written, and the music was awesome! It was a bit overly dramatic at parts, but, where that might have ruined some movies, that just made this one funnier. The way that the food storms developed into natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes was really clever!

My least favorite thing about this movie would probably be the mayor. I don’t feel like he was a character that was thought out very well, although he had a believable motive. I know he’s as close to a human villain as this movie gets, and I know he broke the machine thingie-majigger, but I can’t believe anyone could be that stupid. Well, I can believe it, if I was confronted with proof, but that’s beside the point. The point is…oh, I’m ranting, I should probably stop now…

All in all, this movie was amazing! This is definitely a movie that everyone would enjoy seeing, that appeals to the younger kids AND the older kids (which, again, is not a boast most movies can make), and is good enough to watch over and over and over again without getting as stale as week-old bread!