There have been no shortage of great animated films for children this year, such as the big blockbusters Up, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Monsters vs Aliens. A lot of book fans are very excited for the upcoming Where The Wild Things Are adaptation, and the same crowd was delighted to hear that childhood favorite Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was being made into a film.
This classic tale of a town where food rains down from the sky has animated genius written all over it, and the film really embraces the creativity. I got to see an early screening in 3D, and it was quite the adventure ... although it did leave me very hungry by the end!
Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) always dreamed of becoming a great inventor, although most of his ideas usually ended in failure or exploded in disastrous ways. His mother was a supporter of his dreams, although once she died his fisherman father Tim (James Caan) just could not relate to his quirky son.
Years later Flint is working on a machine that could solve world hunger, and the Mayor (Bruce Campbell) plans to open a theme park hoping to get more tourists and money into the town. Flint's machine goes wacky and causes the park to be destroyed, but then something miraculous happens: the machine works! Food starts raining out of the sky, and the townspeople are delighted. Meanwhile pretty television intern Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) is there to cover the event and gets her big break by reporting the story.
At first this seems like the biggest break for the town, and everyone is very excited. Flint plans different meals for them every day, including some very creative choices like an ice cream snowstorm. The machine gets closer and closer to a danger zone, however, which Flint chooses to ignore because he enjoys the respect from his town and Sam's attention. When the machine starts to have a mind of its own and the food threatens the town, Flint must step up to the plate and become a real hero by destroying his own creation — if he can.
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Article comments
1 - Nick
Sounds like a fun flick for the family. Thanks for the review.
2 - Chelsea Doyle
Glad you liked it, Nick!
3 - Greg Russell
This is one of the most creative animated films I've ever seen.
Loved it !!!!!!!!!!
4 - Steve
It was entertaining and my 3 year old watched the full movie, which is rare.
Loved the character with the voice of Mr T, one of the highlights of the film.
The movie takes the story way beyond the cute short story that kids have read for year.