Review of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) by Natalie M — 31 Mar 2013

This is honestly one of those pleasant surprises that come every now and then. A movie I honestly DID NOT expect to be as good as it was. It's from the creators of the short lived Clone High which is an underrated gem but I don't like it for personal reasons.

In fact it's kinda shocking; you hire a team who made a lowbrow cringe comedy for Family Guy audiences to make a holesome comedy inspired by an ICONIC FAMOUS CHILDREN'S BOOK!?!? Long pause... okay sure why not.

Of course the changes made to the source are large but I haven't read the book in years so my memory is foggy to none-existent but it was a fav of mine when I was a wee tike. Anyway this is a beautiful and hilarious cartoon that has a broad imagination and just as funny as it is heartwarming.

I love how it starts off as a quirky comedy about its lead and the world and people around him and wait until the halfway through the movie to show the dark side of things yet to come. That sort of narrative pacing is something we need to see more often; the tonal and genre shift is honestly not at all contrived or surprising.

Its climax is one of the best I've ever seen. Not only is it still funny but the sense of sci-fi adventure just reaches giant levels of awesome. Every character has a glorious moment of BA and it is honestly the highlight of the film.

The characters are what we really fall in love with and seeing them all having their own moment of awesome in this fast paced last ten or so minutes is just so satisfying. This is the film that has put Sony Pictures on the map as a competent animated film studio IMHO and I could not have been happier.

Now if you'll excuse me... I'm really hungry all of a sudden.