Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Movie: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Location: Netflix

Cohorts: Me, Myself, and I

Summary: Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs follows the inhabitants of the island of Swallow Falls, a small fishing port whose main export is sardines. The Island’s most interesting citizen is the town inventor, Flint Lockwood. Son of Tim the tackle shop owner, Flint likes to invent things that never make it past the prototype phase. There were his Spray-On Shoes that never come off, Flying Car with no wings, Mutant hybrid Rat-Birds and Hair Un-Balder that caused every pore on the body to sprout follicles. More of a nuisance than a boon to the towns folk, Flint is constantly hounded by the town policeman, Earl Devereaux.

When the island’s sardine packing plant is forced to close, the only food the locals have to eat is the leftover sardines. Flint takes it upon himself to invent a machine that will allow him to mutate water molecules into any food imaginable. After building the device, he tests it out by attaching it to island’s power station, which causes it to rocket into the sky; destroying the islands new theme park in the process.

Shortly after the device disappears, the sky turns purple and hamburgers begin falling from the sky. Flint is praised for his new invention, and the mayor plans to use the new weather patterns to give the island’s economy a boost. Sadly, with overuse, the water molecules begin to mutate into larger foodstuffs that manifest themselves in deadlier weather patterns. In the end, it’s up to Flint and his friends to save the town from sure destruction at the base of a towering spaghetti twister.

Opinion: Having read a synopsis of the book before watching the movie, I was aware that only the concept of food based weather was carried over to the movie.

This movie did have some funny moments, but many of the scenes came off as awkward and forced rather than spontaneously invented – which may have been what they were going for. I guess the awkwardness was supposed to be funny, but it only succeeded in making me feel awkward. There were some in jokes for the adults, but the delivery was so stale I was only able to think “wow, that was clever”. This is a kids movie, so I can’t complain too much.

I give it a solid 3 out of 5, mostly for the stupendous animation.