I just looked up the information on "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs," the movie I just saw this morning with my kids (in 3-D, no less), and was shocked to find that the film is not even 90 minutes long. Why, then, did it feel like far longer?
I have two theories. Theory number one -- and it's entirely probable -- is that my son's incessant squirming and the duelling match between my kids on either side of me to stuff their hands in the popcorn bag in my lap provided too great a distraction from a movie that wasn't good enough to pull my attention away from my kids. That and the fact that, as I held my son's 3-D glasses on him for most of the film, I obsessed over the idiocy that they don't make 3-D glasses for toddlers...the very market for the film itself! Adult-sized glasses don't sit on button noses and tiny ears, but I digress.
Theory number two is equally probable. And that's that "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" delivers a charming first half and a ridiculously flat, loud and eye-irritating second half.
As everyone probably knows by now, the film expands on the children's book, of which I am a big fan and have used in my creative writing class for years. Here, the main character (voiced generically by Bill Hader), is kid who grows up to be an inventor. His mom believes in him but dies young, and his dad is too old-school and simple-minded to support his son's crazy dreams or even communicate his feelings for him. Thow in a weather girl who dumbs herself down from the nerd she used to be to the if-this-weren't-a-kid's-cartoon-she'd-be-a-sexy TV-ready beautiful girl, and you have a couple of great morals to explore in the story.
Fantastic voiceover work brings life to support characters thanks the the work of Andy Samberg and Mr. T (we've MISSED YOU!).
At the end of the film's more complicated and interesting first half, the inventor's machine that turns water into food goes from being a blessing to a curse when the town's greedy mayor, in search of a marketable tourist attraction, essentially hijacks both the boy's emotions and his creation. Naturally, the machine's limits are tested in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it and all hamburger breaks loose (not to mention dozens of other treats). Before long, a town excited about having an alternative to the sardines it is known for is now staring down the terror of a cyclone made of spaghetti noodles. And the only one who can stop it is...well, you know...
I've not been quiet about my distaste (pardon the pun) for 3-D films, and once again (as with the even LESS exciting "Monsters vs. Aliens"), I walked out of this one thinking that the 3-D work was really responsible for all of the films most worthy moments. A great animated film like "Up" does not require the gimmick of 3-D, but a mediocre film like this one truly depends on it. Really, it's nothing without it. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" showed some promise in its first half and even managed to use 3-D technology in a realistic and integrated way, instead of simply going for the "rubber ball on the paddle into the audience moments." But it couldn't sustain my interest or the quality of the storytelling, and that's a bummer. Maybe I'll like these 3-D kids' films more when someone invents smaller glasses for little kids.
2.0 out of 4
I have two theories. Theory number one -- and it's entirely probable -- is that my son's incessant squirming and the duelling match between my kids on either side of me to stuff their hands in the popcorn bag in my lap provided too great a distraction from a movie that wasn't good enough to pull my attention away from my kids. That and the fact that, as I held my son's 3-D glasses on him for most of the film, I obsessed over the idiocy that they don't make 3-D glasses for toddlers...the very market for the film itself! Adult-sized glasses don't sit on button noses and tiny ears, but I digress.
Theory number two is equally probable. And that's that "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" delivers a charming first half and a ridiculously flat, loud and eye-irritating second half.
As everyone probably knows by now, the film expands on the children's book, of which I am a big fan and have used in my creative writing class for years. Here, the main character (voiced generically by Bill Hader), is kid who grows up to be an inventor. His mom believes in him but dies young, and his dad is too old-school and simple-minded to support his son's crazy dreams or even communicate his feelings for him. Thow in a weather girl who dumbs herself down from the nerd she used to be to the if-this-weren't-a-kid's-cartoon-she'd-be-a-sexy TV-ready beautiful girl, and you have a couple of great morals to explore in the story.
Fantastic voiceover work brings life to support characters thanks the the work of Andy Samberg and Mr. T (we've MISSED YOU!).
At the end of the film's more complicated and interesting first half, the inventor's machine that turns water into food goes from being a blessing to a curse when the town's greedy mayor, in search of a marketable tourist attraction, essentially hijacks both the boy's emotions and his creation. Naturally, the machine's limits are tested in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it and all hamburger breaks loose (not to mention dozens of other treats). Before long, a town excited about having an alternative to the sardines it is known for is now staring down the terror of a cyclone made of spaghetti noodles. And the only one who can stop it is...well, you know...
I've not been quiet about my distaste (pardon the pun) for 3-D films, and once again (as with the even LESS exciting "Monsters vs. Aliens"), I walked out of this one thinking that the 3-D work was really responsible for all of the films most worthy moments. A great animated film like "Up" does not require the gimmick of 3-D, but a mediocre film like this one truly depends on it. Really, it's nothing without it. "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" showed some promise in its first half and even managed to use 3-D technology in a realistic and integrated way, instead of simply going for the "rubber ball on the paddle into the audience moments." But it couldn't sustain my interest or the quality of the storytelling, and that's a bummer. Maybe I'll like these 3-D kids' films more when someone invents smaller glasses for little kids.
2.0 out of 4
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