Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Shady sequel or tasty treat?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 15, 2014

There's no such thing as small science...only small scientists.

Nothing is small in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, a buffet of color and oversized food products that have not merely descended onto Swallow Falls but overrun it, literally, now that it's all sprouted legs and minds of its own. Sony Animation has now squeezed two feature films out of Author Judi Barrett's 32-page 1978 children's book, a staple of Elementary school libraries and now filling two spaces on the family home entertainment shelf. The sequel, as sequels are prone to do, doesn't quite live up to the magic of the original, that film a also spectacle of multicolored food products and filled to the brim with charm and heart. The sequel features more of the former but less of the latter, telling a story that's a little less filling but tasty nonetheless, a quick and easy desert to the first film's gourmet main course. Core audience members -- young kids who fell in love with the original -- will find just as much to dazzle the eyes and delight the ears here. It's a big adventure with all the old characters and a few new ones in tow, and even absent that innate charm, most parents will find in the movie enough pleasure to make it worth sitting down as a family to give it a watch, or ten.

I have an idea...

Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) has just put an end to the FLDSMDFR's madness and saved Swallow Falls and all his friends. And the fun has only just begun. To Flint's amazement, his childhood science hero, Chester V (voiced by Will Forte, channeling Hector Elizondo) arrives with orders from the United Nations to clean up the land. That means evacuating everyone to San FranJose, California, except Flint. Chester invites Flint to come to work for him at Live Corp, the leading scientific company in the world. Flint's amazed at the opportunity and even more excited to work with some of the smartest caffeine-driven scientists known to man. When he's passed over for a major workplace prize, he's dejected, but the secretly nefarious Chester V has other plans for him in mind. He recruits Flint to return to Swallow Falls and put an end to the FLDSMDFR, again. It's apparently still operational, mutating its food into living organisms that Flint will have to destroy if he wants to save the world. With his father Tim (voiced by James Caan), his trusty sidekick Steve (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris), his girl Sam Sparks (voiced by Anna Faris), the bully-turned-comic-releif Brent (voiced by Andy Samberg), Cameraman Manny (voiced by Benjamin Bratt), and officer Earl (voiced by Terry Crews, replacing the dynamic Mr. T) accompanying him, Flint sets out to win the heart of his hero, but at what personal cost?

While Cloudy 2 definitely delivers plenty of family fun, it fails to capture the wide-eyed, here-comes-the-sparkling-birthday-cake excitement, anticipation, and novelty of the first. This sequel can't quite escape the feeling that it's more a retread than it is an original idea, more last week's leftovers rather than a freshly cooked meal. There's precious little meat to the plot, and the side stories that work in lessons on friendship, hero worship, and the good in doing the right thing even under unusual pressures and circumstances are nicely implemented but don't break any new ground. The plot arc and angles can be seen coming faster than a pizza delivery driver with a minute left before the pie becomes free. Yet there's enough sugary goodness here that even the most hardened audiences will not reject the entire movie but will nevertheless come to quickly see all the base unoriginal elements presented therein.

Yet none of that really matters at the end of the day. Cloudy 2 is infectiously humorous and packs on the jokes -- and jokes that actually work, for that matter -- as quickly as hot fudge sundaes pack on the pounds (Flint really needs to invent a machine that removes all the bad stuff out of food but leaves the taste behind). It's colorful almost to a fault, an explosion of bright globs of eye candy -- literally, in some cases -- that can effectively and temporarily, at least, blind the audience to the lack of real substance underneath. It's the sort of movie one watches to truly watch, to see what sort of visual antics the filmmakers can think of next. The various "foodimals" are cleverly designed and utilized in every scene, the picture a bastion of Frankenstein-like creativity. Everything form plopping eyeballs onto strawberries and marshmallows to creating a giant spider-like creature out of a hamburger and french fries gives the movie a wonderfully unique flavor and shows audiences something that, gasp, they've never seen before and, frankly, probably never even imagined. That's where the Cloudy movies really work, in creating a wonderfully dynamic and creative universe where anything goes and everything's game.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 serves up a platter of colorful goodness that's of reference quality from start to finish. Sony's 1080p animated transfer excels in every frame, showcasing a multitude of bold, fresh colors throughout. It wouldn't be a stretch to call this one of the most colorful films ever produced and certainly a showcase for Blu-ray's ability to present so many with nuanced precision. Barb's purple skin and the orange Live Corp accents make fine examples of the transfer's more dominant, steady colors, but the real excitement comes when the screen is splashed with any number of diverse and bright shades that give new meaning to "eye candy." Image clarity is equally brilliant and details splendid. Every line is crisply defined and the smallest digital textures look terrific. The Blu-ray shows off the digital artists' painstaking renderings with no trouble. The image is free of banding or other eyesores. In short, this is a picture-perfect, demonstration-worthy image from beginning to end.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is right there with the video, beat for beat, in terms of quality throughout. It does everything very well, filling the stage with a variety of interesting elements and musical notes, all presented with pinpoint accuracy and clarity. Musical numbers are lively and naturally spaced, spreading evenly across the front and finding just the right amount of surround support across the back. The low end is never truly dominant but it's nicely supportive and full when necessary. The food- and foodimal-infested world of Swallow Falls comes to life with a wide variety of nuanced and front-and-center elements alike. The stage often fills with dynamic sound effects and environmental supporting pieces to better define the environment and add some spice to the film. Even the heaviest sound effects, such as stampeding "bananas," power through the listening area with an exciting presence and high sonic accuracy. Dialogue plays evenly from the center and is the finishing touch on a dominant and dynamic listen.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 contains a commentary track, deleted scenes, a music video, and several interesting featurettes.

• Audio Commentary: Directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn guide audiences through the film, covering plot basics, story structure, 3D, characters and voice cast, changes to the script through the production process, colors, and much more. This is a relaxed commentary, one that's informative and entertaining both. With optional English and Spanish subtitles.
• Mini-Movies (HD, DD 2.0): Steve's First Bath (5:02), Super Manny (4:22), Attack of the 50 Foot Gummi Bear (5:58), and Earl Scouts (6:39).
• Deleted Scenes (HD): Barb Picks Up Flint (0:53), Flint Prepares for His Mission (0:29), Tunnel to Flint's Lab (0:26), and Brent's Toes (0:53).
• Production Design: Back in the Kitchen (HD, 6:50): Producer Pam Marsden, Directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, Art Director Dave Bleich, and Production Designer Justin K. Thompson, discuss the film's story change from the first, its visuals, the larger scope, the color, building San FranJose, character design, and story details.
• Cloudy Cafe: Who's on the Menu? (HD, 6:53): Directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, Actor Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, Benjamin Bratt, Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, James Caan, Will Forte, and Kristen Schaal take a look at the film's cast of characters.
• Anatomy of a Foodimal (HD, 6:04): Actors Anna Faris, Bill Hader, Terry Crews, Kristen Schaal, Andy Samberg, and Will Forte;; Producer Pam Marsden; Producer Kirk Bodyfelt; Directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn; Art Director Dave Bleich; and Visual Developer Andrew Medina examine the digital "foodimals" and their real-life created counterparts.
• Awesome End Credits (HD, 6:09): End Credits Designers and Supervisors Pete Oswald and Craig Kellman, Directors Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, End Credits Lead Puppeteer Robin Walsh, and End Credits Animation Producer/Director Mark Caballero, take a brief but fascinating and inclusive look at the making of the film's unique end credits.
• Music Video (HD, 3:25): La Da Dee by Cody Simpson.
• Making of the La Da Dee Music Video (HD, 0:59): A short behind-the-scenes look at the making of the music video.
• Building the Foodimals (HD, 3:50): Senior Animation Supervisor Peter Nash vocally guides viewers through the process of constructing the film's diverse "foodimal" population through clips form the film and shots in various stages of completion.
• Delicious Production Design (HD, 5:11): Production Designer Justin Thompson's comments overlay a piece that offers and overview of the film's visual appearance, styles, and more.
• The Mysterious Sasquash (HD, 3:08): VFX Supervisor Peter Travers takes viewers on a tour of the background "easter egg" character's appearances and backstory.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• DVD Copy.
• UV Digital Copy.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 won't cause any indigestion, but neither is it a feast for anything but the eyes. The story lacks originality but certainly not creativity as Flint and company embark on an adventure quite unlike anything moviegoers have ever seen, or even imagined, before. The jokes come quickly and seem to always hit, but that's abut it. The movie feels terribly superficial, dabbling in themes that are nothing but staples of the modern animation genre. Still, that's enough to call the movie a success, something the young ones in the audience will eat up while still suitably palatable for the adults accompanying them. Sony's Blu-ray release of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 features reference video, excellent audio, and a nice little assortment of extra content. Recommended.