CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
By: Iggy Michniacki on 12.31.2009
The Movie Itself:
With a wide collection of family movies that hit the theaters in 2009, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was one that seemed to not be in the mix of most talked about releases. After all, Pixar had their annual release with Up, and family movie sequels seemed to be plentiful with the third installment of the Ice Age series and the holiday arrival of a certain Squeekqual. However, two family movies made it to the big screen this year that derived from children books that have seen much success over the past few decades. First of which, was the live action Where the Wild Things Are that gained much publicity and success and the other was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which, for some reason, missed some of the ‘love’ that the others saw.
On Swallow Falls, an island in the Atlantic Ocean, there are only sardines left to eat as the town has seemed to have gone downhill since the closing of its sardine factory. Desperate to be a great inventor, Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) is on a quest to find the perfect invention, an opportunity for his town, and glory. Also desperate is Mayor Shelbourne (Bruce Campbell), who is seeking fame, success, money and tourism for himself and the town. Thirdly is another desperate soul, Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) who is searching for her opportunity to become the popular weather-girl she always wanted to be.
Well, thanks to Flint’s invention of the FLDSMDFR (Flint, Lockwood, Diatonic, Super, Mutating, Dynamic, Food, Replicator), all their desperation seems to dissapear as success rushes to all three. While covering the opening of Sardine Land, Sam Sparks is in the right place at the right time when Flint’s machine seems to start working and cheeseburgers begin to fall from the sky. Eager to use it for his own success, Mayor Shelbourne seizes the opportunity to turn it into a tourist attraction and has Flint continue to have it rain three meals a day.
Well as success goes to their heads everything comes crashing down when the machine goes overboard and starts creating overly large food that is dangerous to those of Swallow Falls (now called Chews and Swallows). Eager to fix the problem, Flint and Sam risk everything to stop the machine and they must show that they are more than just desperate fame-seekers and that they are successful people who care for others.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is absolutely hilarious and quickly jumped to my favorite family movie of the year upon first viewing. Now seeing it four times, I can say that I equally enjoy this movie as much as my five year old and with plenty of great reasons. The adaptation from a short, children’s book into an hour and a half movie was done successfully, as filler was absolutely hilarious and didn’t change the flow of the story at all. Each portion of them movie plays into the big picture and does so in an fun and entertaining manner.
The voice acting was great as well, as each actor matched up to his or her character perfectly. Along with Hader, Faris, and Campbell were a few others that offered great performances including Mr. T, Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Samberg, and James Caan. However, with this great cast, Campbell took the cake and delivered the best performance in the movie as the greedy and selfish mayor. Each time Campbell’s character was in a scene I found myself laughing out loud and wanting to see more of this growing mayor.
Even with Campbell stealing the show, the others delivered great performances as well with NPH’s performance as a monkey with a though translator on being quite hilarious as well. Each character was thoroughly thought out and contributed in an exciting and different manner leading to a collection of cast that helped a short story extend into a longer story.
Both the writing and acting should take the credit for this movies ability to entertain, but at the same time the animators shouldn’t be left out either. The animation style is becoming the norm but Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs did it in a successful manner helping eyes stayed glued to the screen.
The movie isn’t perfect as it flies into familiar ‘family movie’ territory that many of those movies do. However, it is one of the better family features of the year and should be considered by anybody with or without children.
Rating: 8/10
 The Presentation:
The ‘new’ style of animation that has taken over the big screen everywhere seems to transfer very well over to the Blu-ray format. So needless to say the presentation for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is near flawless with breathtaking video and an incredible audio track.
The Mpeg-4, full 1080p video presentation is reference material from the beginning to end. Never once does there seem to be an issue concerning this picture. The amount of detail is amazing, allowing every aspect of every scene to be scene in the manner it was intended. Peanut brittle jagged spikes, texture in the food, detail in clothing and all the other goodies are plane as day. The colors are bright, vibrant and brilliant as well letting the full palette come to life. Each color jumps off the screen, with the primaries being the most noticeable. The best example of how strong the colors are is the ‘ice-cream snow’ sequence that litters the scenes with a snowfield of rainbow sherbet.
The image is completely three-dimensional, even for this two-dimensional presentation. I understand that the theaters offered a three-dimensional viewing experience, with glasses and all, but seeing it in both 2D and 3D in theaters I can safely say this Blu-ray picture doesn’t lack what the theater offered. The two-dimensional image isn’t flat as it is often jumping off the screen and right into the audience’s home. Each scene delivers a dynamic array of dimension as well as the before mentioned color and detail.
The audio is strikingly strong as well, but I won’t say it is a perfect ten like the video. The English DTS-HD 5.1 track is powerful, full of life, and utilizes each speaker well but sometimes can leave the rear channels with a little less. The dialogue is completely crisp and clear never drowned out by the array of sound effects or music that is present throughout most of the movie. Each word can be heard clearly and each conversation is alive, coming from the center channel.
The sound effects are plentiful, and rock the speakers quite nicely. The one issue I have with the audio does come in this department, as sometimes the sound effects can be front heavy, even with food falling from above, or movement that should encompass the entire speaker system. Back on the positive notes, one could get caught up in the soundtrack as it is loud and fun. Music sounds great coming from every direction and adding an extra dimension to the movie experience. The subwoofer is also full of life, offering the much-needed low noise during fast paced scenes, action sequences, and music accompaniments.
Rating: 9/10 (video 10/10, audio 9/10)
 The Extras:
There’s a fair share of extras on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and thankfully the majority are in high definition. The extras include a commentary track, a fun game, and a few featurettes but the true gold is in the included DVD and Digital copies.
- Splat Mode!: Self explanatory actually. A Blu-ray exclusive feature that allows you to watch in splat mode, or with the food splatting across your screen.
- Flint’s Food Fight Game: Flint needs to jam up the F.L.D.S.M.D.F.R. and he needs your help. Fire up your fork cannon, using the direction keys on the remote, and help prevent the showers of oversized food.
- Audio Commentary: Writers/Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, and Actor Bill Hader discuss everything from the original book to voice acting to animation. The commentary isn’t overly exciting but it does provide some information on the movie itself.
- A Recipe For Success: The Making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (HD): The cast and crew take a look at the transition from short, children’s book to feature length film.
- Key Ingredients: The Voices of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (HD): This featurette features the voice talent from the movie as they discuss went into their roles and the movie. The cast, as mentioned in the review, is great and it was nice to see them talk about their roles.
- Extended Scenes (HD): Two extended scenes that didn’t make the final cut of the movie.
- Early Development Scenes (HD): Two scenes that were still in early development but lucky enough to get the high definition treatment.
- Progression Reels (HD): This includes five progression reels.
- Miranda Cosgrove’s “Raining Sunshine” (SD): Includes the sing-a-long video, regular music video and the making of for the video.
- Make It Rain Food (HD): A short promotional ad for fighting hunger.
- Previews (HD): Includes other Sony releases such as Open Season, Open Season 2, Open Season 3, Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, Planet 51, Surf’s Up, Monster House, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep and Daddy Day Camp.
- DVD Copy
- Digital Copy
Rating: 7/10
Overall:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs looks fantastic on Blu-ray! With the style of animation, as well as it being a new release this seemed to be a given, however one can never be certain anymore. The presentation isn’t the only winner for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, as the movie is absolutely hilarious and wonderful with great voice-acting and excellent writing. A large amount of extras, including the DVD and Digital Copies should help sway those on the fence but anybody and everybody should at least give this feature a peak.
Rating: 8/10
|
