Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Not all animated films are enjoyable for me. I hate to point the finger here but a prime example is Shreck the Third which was an utter torment to sit through. This shows that I am not going to hold back just because this film is animated, if it is rubbish I'll give it a good thrashing. This is why, when I turned onto Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, I was ready to slowly pick it apart bit by bit. This is the bit where I feel embarrassed........................ I quite enjoyed it.

What the joy is with most animated films is the original ideas that no one can really achieve with realistic cinema. This makes every turn in an animated film feel exciting and new, unless it's yet another sequel (I need not name the film I am referring to here). The simple concept of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is that food rains from the sky. Now I never seen a film with that as the core concept, have you?

The main point to throw out there with this film is that it looks good. This is because of the many food delicacies raining from the sky you get a hug assortment of colours that make the image on the screen very balanced and pleasing on the eye. This means that all the film makers have to do is create lovable characters and a good script and hey presto, we have an entertaining film.

I am glad to say that they do this. All of the characters are perfectly balanced and seem to all interact with each other well. They are also well played with James Caan's performance as the father a particular highlight. I even felt some emotion at the end of the film at the ending which is more that can be said for other animated films (....... like Shreck the Third) The script is also quirky and enjoyable excluding the predictable animated slapstick you can see coming like another Shreck sequel (oh, did I do it again?). They do throw in some laugh out loud comedy along the way with my favorite being the contrast with the techno wiz kid of a son with his anti-technology father. Many of the young generation will be able to relate to their parents struggling with concepts like emails.

The only thing that bugs me about this film is the seeming lack of motivation from the film makers not to do more with the film. The plot takes an hour to get going, which is fine because it's all very entertaining, but then only about half an hour to come to a close from their. The moment disaster strikes you are already two thirds of the way through the film. Also because of the fact that the film did contain some really funny jokes I felt that they could have tried harder to make the other jokes that didn't quite work in the film better. It felt as if the writers had thought of 10 very funny jokes and decided that's all they really needed. It could have been so much better than just being good fun.

In conclusion a good fun film to watch with the family but don't blow your budget on it.

Rating: 6.5/10

Format to Buy: DVD