Original Cover to the Book
Childhood nostalgia is a tricky thing. Cater to it too much, and you become an obsessive completist stuck in the past and unable to appreciate any new approaches or nuances to familiar subject matter. Disregard it too much and you risk alienating and offending people who loved the subject matter in the first place.
Cloudy with Chance of Meatballs never had a cult dedicated to it - with people dressing up as their favorite meatballer or years of canon literature and spin offs and television shows exploring the "Cloudverse." [There is a sequel entitled Pickles to Pittsburgh] Still, I remember reading it over and over again as a kid - obsessed with all of the absurd imagery which seemed quite imaginative and provocative as a child ("Pancakes on Houses? Whatever!"). But, at a mere 32 pages, there wasn't a lot to be perverted or corrupted by the evil minds of Hollywood executives, maniacally laughing as they count their money and feast on the innocence of children. But, then, there wasn't a lot to Dr. Seuss books either, and we all know how those adaptations turned out. [*Shudder*]
Thankfully, the recent movie adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is both original and fun without having to desecrate whatever memory you have of the book. Written and directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller, veterans of the dearly departed Clone High, Cloudy is a high energy send-up of disaster movies, filled with great visual gags, great absurd dialogue and characters and, most importantly, a Monkey named "Steve" (and voiced by NPH - Squeeeee!).
Remember when I said I hadn't seen anything that seemed to tap into Bill Hader's potential? Well this isn't the movie that completely disproves me, but it goes a long way to proving me mostly wrong. Hader infuses both a relatable everyman quality to the hero, a fumbling scientist named Flint Lockwood, as well as a great comic absurdity of a dreamer who doesn't quite gel with reality.
The other voice acting by Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, Bruce Campbell, NPH and James Caan (who I really thought was James Gandolfini for most of the movie) is all top notch and rapid fire, like an Aaron Sorkin script but with more subtlety and a slightly less drug addled feel to it. There are themes of father/son disconnect, the eternal kids' movie trope of "just be yourself," and even some subtle jabs at a tendency towards overconsumption (not to Wall-E levels with Man-Babies, although there is a grown man in a diaper, but that's unrelated...or is it?).
The visual aspects of this movie are pretty great. The character design feels heavily influenced by Jim Henson's muppets - in the best way possible. It's not rendered in lifelike quality like Pixar has done, but with a more skewed take on the world - it's far more cartoony & slapsticky than most of John Lasseter's fare. And yet, even with that bit of abstraction from reality, there's a sequence where it feels like movie is being shot on handheld camera as Flint races through a house - it's honestly quite brilliant and rather innovative.
Unfortunately, the reference point for most animated movies is going to be Pixar - not only have most people seen those films, but they also are done astonishingly well. So, in that regard, no, this movie isn't as deep or as layered as any of Pixar's offerings (maybe Cars), and there's very little "surprises" in terms of plot - but it's entertaining and fun and silly and definitely more absurd than it has any right to be. If you want some funny banter, some great mocking of big Roland Emmerich movies, some great and interesting visuals - then I heartily recommend Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
(all images taken from Cinemablend)