Review of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) by Christie C — 07 May 2014

Back in 2009, I almost got kicked out the theater when watching the first Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.

And I wish I had.

What a terribly disappointing, stupid movie that ruined the classic children's book I adored so much.

When I heard there was going to be a second one, I was enraged. How could they add onto so dreadful? But they did.

Then, you know, fast forward, trailers started coming out.

And oddly enough, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 looked hysterical. I was actually now surprisingly excited.

I never got to see it in theaters like I wanted to, though. So, instead, I waited until it was released on blu-ray / DVD and yesterday I got around to renting and seeing it...

Boy.

What a letdown.

The whole reason I, personally, went to see this film was for the humor. Animation second. But the comedic timing for all these jokes was so poorly placed it eradicated any humor they had to them. The jokes as you see them in the trailer work. In the film, though, they don't. They're forced and oddly planted. Having said that, some of the jokes still work and got me to chuckle. I'm just upset they aren't as funny as they could or should have been.

The animation, colors, and visuals, however, are superb. Though due to such lack of comedy in a comedy film, it's not enough to save it. I caught myself getting on and off the couch quite a bit, without looking back as I went to do whatever. That is not good.

Flint, the main character, remains as annoying as ever. Which adds much to the lack of entertainment this film has.

I will say I was glad there wasn't a whole "BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!!!!!" message to it and didn't include two characters trying to hook-up. But maybe that's solely because the first film had those two elements...

A part of me thought there was an underlying pro-PEDA message, though...

Two mangos out of four.