1st Movie Review

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

I have fond memories of the beloved children's book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs so I was intrigued to see the film. The book was like the Princess Bride. It centered around a Grandpa telling his grandchildren a story. This element was omitted in film. However, it was unnecessary.

The film focused on failing scientist, Flint Lockwood, and his attempts to save his island town from life of only eating sardines. Flint (voiced by SNL funnyman Bill Hader) constructs a machine that makes any food he wants, however, it gets shot into the atmosphere and makes food rain.

This makes Flint the most popular person in the town of Chewandswallow. It also helps him land a date with weather girl, Sam Sparks (Voiced by Anna Farris). flint is on top of the world but as everyone knows that can never last in the movies.

The whimsical story still entertains me, and that best summarizes my opinion about the film. In was entertained by a big screen adaptation of one of my favorite books as a kid and I thought the movie stuck pretty close to the story of the book.

If I was little kid I would have loved this movie, however, it had little to entertain adults taking their kids to watch the film.

The awkward first date between Flint and Sam is the only part that really appeals to adults.

The best animated movies in recent years have been able to entertain both adults and children. The best examples of this are Shrek and essentially every Pixar movie.

I did enjoy seeing Mr.T make a return to the big screen. It was his first movie since Not Another Teen Movie. His character Earl Devereaux is one of the more entertaining and likable characters in the film.

The theater did not have the movie in 3D so I cannot comment on the 3D aspects of the film. I am delighted to see this trend of at least one 3D movie per month.

Having one 3D movie released per month prevents this trend from becoming out of control and annoying. I also like that only animated movies and horror films are seemingly the only ones using this technology.

Overall Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs receives a B. It had a great cast of voices, including James Caan, Benjamin Bratt, and Bobb'e J. Thompson in addition to the people mentioned earlier in the review.

However, this movie really focuses on entertaining kids, and struggled to make jokes that could make both adults and kids laugh. I did like how close the movie matches the novel. You rarely see that in movie adaptations. I hope this happens with the upcoming film, Where the Wild Things Are.

Until Next Time,
Sean Pooley