Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

You know what; maybe I’ll actually start paying attention when Sony Pictures Animation releases another movie. The first movie release by the company was Open Season, a movie which I openly hated. Then came Surf’s Up, a movie that while I was warmer to it, I didn’t by any means enjoy it. So that’s the reason it took me two years to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the company’s latest effort. Well-third time’s the charm. This film is definitely the best one they’ve made so far. And to put another accomplishment on them, they take a story from an extremely short children’s book of the same name and effectively turn it into a full-length film (something I think that films like The Polar Express failed to accomplish). The plot varies from the simple plot of the book. In the book, it just rained food (to my knowledge. I read the book a very long time ago). Here, a scientist named Flint Lockwood (voiced by the hilarious Bill Hader), who is a failed inventor, and just wants to make something that will save his town, an island who can only produce sardines, which are ‘super-gross’. He then does just that, with the help of his pet monkey Steve (Neil Patrick Harris). He creates a machine that turns water into food, and his machine works, until it gets shot up into the sky. The town later rains food, bringing in a first-time weather reporter and love interest for Flint (who I am pretty sure has never kissed a girl), Sam Sparks (voiced by Anna Farris). The food makes the town happy, and fed, and now, the entire world is giving them notice. But the people get greedy, and the food starts to get bigger. There is a glitch in the machine. And the food gets bigger and bigger and the people get greedier and greedier, until everything crumbles down. And while I’m pretty sure that this qualifies as one of those movie messages that you all know I am akin to hating, I really don’t care here. I was distracted from the groan-inducing messages pressed on me with beautiful visuals, great voice acting, and some of the smartest comedy I’ve seen in recent memory. The film has the charm of the better PIXAR movies, and has the humor of Arrested Development. I know I’ve made a million Arrested Development referenced, but that is my favorite TV show, and it is super smart and super funny, and so is this movie. It’s actually better than it should be. I just love it, and I am pretty sure I’m gonna buy the Blu-ray and watch it multiple times. Out of all the mainstream animated films outside of the PIXAR realm, this is probably the best one.
9/10