CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 Review - it's like an animated jurassic park. with food.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

Animated, 2013
1 hour, 35 minutes
Written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Erica Rivinoja
Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn
Rated PG for "mild, rude humor"

Starring
Bill Hader
Anna Faris
James Caan
Will Forte
Andy Samberg
Terry Crews
Kristen Schaal
Benjamin Bratt
Neil Patrick Harris




I don't watch many kids movies other than whatever Disney puts out. Because let's face it, Most of those other Dreamworks movies are far too deep in the kids movie range. Disney and Pixar films are so finely crafted, they don't bullshit, and there are plenty of jokes for adults. They're fantastic.
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a great movie on it's own. Strong voice acting and fun animation make for a fun movie for all ages. It's a great adaptation of the kids book, despite taking a very different direction with the story, but hey, it's a movie.
Cloudy 2 was definitely made with the intention of "hey we made a fortune on this and people liked it, let's do another one!" And it works. Despite following some very familiar story and character tropes, I found it to be quite enjoyable. Careful watchers will see that Cloudy 2 has taken a few notes from Jurassic Park, and there are a few great adult jokes (in particular, a device that's called a BS USB, which had me cracking up).

However, the best part of the movie is the puns. Holy shit, so many puns. All food puns. They're amazing. So many I don't even know where to start, but they're all fantastic, and they add a ton to the movie.

The voice work is top notch. All of the original cast, except for Mr. T, returns for the sequel. It's all the same characters in all of their absurd quirky selves.
The only thing that doesn't work quite as well are some of the themes. There's a whole bit about abandoning your friends, but it just doesn't have quite as much payoff as you'd expect it to. Not in terms of story, because it's not like it just happens, but as far as just storytelling goes, it just doesn't work as well as it should. On top of that, it's just far too predictable, but then again, most kids movies are.
And that's okay.

So if you like punny movies and Jurassic Park, then you'll probably get a kick out of this.
It should also be noted that there is an adorable little strawberry thing named Barry and he's adorable as fuck. Like, Jesus. I want a little toy outta that guy he's so cute. I can't even... Jeez. You know how girls get when they see small mammals? JUST LOOK AT THAT FUCKING ANIMATED STRAWBERRY!!!

Just look at that fucking cute face. SHIT I can't take how adorable he is. He's a fucking animated strawberry with giant animated eyes. Fuck. I can't handle this. I can't. I'm outta here.

Just see the movie, it's great. Not really on my top 10 of the year, but still pretty great.
9/10