Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)
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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Movie Review
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a 2013 animated family comedy film from Sony Pictures Animation. It’s a sequel that is much weaker than the original movie.
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“It’s enough to make a grown man cry.
But not this man! Get back in there, tear!“
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Flint Lockwood and his friends return to the town to save the world after the presumably-destroyed FLDSMDFR reawakens, and starts producing sentient food animals. Needless to say, the original film isn’t a classic by all means, but it had its moments, and the father-son relationship was quite impactful and solid.
This sequel, however, doesn’t have that. It is actually thematically very empty, and also character richness is not this movie’s friend. The flick is so damn frenetic, hectic and child-oriented that it is very difficult for adults to get behind it. Sure, it must be awesome for kids, but it lacked any sort of momentum or depth to it to satisfy those more demanding viewers.
As I said, the characterization took a backseat to the action and visuals here which was unfortunate as this ensemble is fun, but weakly utilized. Flint isn’t as memorable this time around, and the same goes for Sam and his dad. I did find Steve hilarious and Barb is also solid. The food animals are also immensely cute, endearing and fun. But the villain Chester V is such a cartoony, one-note, stupid villain that even a cartoon could not support this level of blandness.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is even more colorful and dazzling than its predecessor which says a lot, but the foodimals are so damn irresistible, especially Barry the Strawberry. The movie is beautiful to behold, and actually delightfully cartoony in its design that I really appreciated it. It needs more attention for how intricately imagined this world is, how colorful but not garish the visuals are and how some of the imagery is so memorable.
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But the movie itself is mediocre across the board including the dialogue, the boring and overwhelming action and most of the childish humor, though some of it was amusing admittedly so. Everything here was a half-assed attempt to cash in on the success of the first film, and Sony really needs to step up their game when it comes to their sequels overall.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is once again highly dazzling in its colorful animation and sometimes fun and funny, but it is so much weaker than its predecessor thanks to less emphasis on strong characterization and memorable plot, but a bigger focus on endless action and hectic pacing which are great for kids, but not so much for adults.
