Review of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) by Jason H — 08 Feb 2015

I hesitated to watch this film. I really loved the first. From the soundtrack to the characters and story, it was everything a modern animated film should be. But the reviews were telling me it wasn't as good as the first.

I was pretty disappointed only an hour in. Everything felt flat compared to the first film. There was almost zero character development, and there was only a hint of the amazing score from Mark Mothersbaugh in the first film. I felt pretty let down. The story seems uninteresting and they shoehorned in a Paul McCartney song that was so-so. However, the final hour of the film hit with an explosion of cute food animals and some story redemption that allowed me to add a third star. The conception of sentient food that needed protection was a great idea.

Sadly, it was confirmed to me this was only a hollow shell of the previous film and that is too bad. I think they could have done something special here. Barb was a great addition, but Chester was a terrible villain. Sam also had zero growth as a character, and she was one of the most endearing cast members of the first film.

Basically, the first film was aimed at all audiences, and this film feels like it was geared only for younger crowds, and that is unfortunate. There are plenty of adults out there who really enjoy the animated film genre.