It's rare for sequels to be better movies than the original, let alone for animated movies. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" was a surprisingly great and fun movie and it would take something very special to surpass it. This sequel is anything but special however, though at the same time, it's still far from a terrible one as well.

Now, when compared to the first movie; I did have some problems with this movie. For one, it's obvious that this movie wasn't done by the same directors as the first movie. Sure, the style is still the same, the characters are the same and the humor is pretty much the same as well but it are the little things that make it all too obvious that this movie had some very different people at the helm of it. The comedy all feels slightly more forced and exaggerated but most notably, the storytelling feels far more rushed.

The first movie was actually a pretty subtly told one, that took the time to set up the story and all of its characters. This movie doesn't have to set up its character anymore, since it obviously features most of the same ones again and is taking place right after the events of the first movie. That means that this sequel throws us right into the 'action' and doesn't ever really slows down again, at any point, which was something I wasn't all too happy about.

This also is definitely a more generic feeling animated movie, when compared to the original one. The story is a typical one, without any surprises in it, in which our heroes have to travel from point A to B, while having to resolve a conflict. But here is the problem with it; I still don't really get its story. I still don't really understand what the villain was trying to achieve and why he went to so much trouble for it. And I also still don't really get why the island was taken over by food-animal hybrids. You can choose to ignore all of this and simply enjoy the movie but personally, it did bother me all quite a bit, especially once it became obvious to me that the movie wasn't ever really going to explain any of its plot details, or delve deeper into things. But this movie decides to be as simplistic as possible, by not doing or telling you too much, making this movie also definitely more kid oriented, which may disappoint some of the adults who liked the first movie and were hoping again for one just like it.

But even so; this movie remains better and more fun to watch, than lets say, the average modern animated movie. The characters are all good and fun ones and the movie introduces some new good and cute ones as well but not too many though. It mostly reintroduces lots of characters from the first movie again and gives some of them some bigger parts to play this time around as well.

It's perfectly entertaining and harmless fun to watch all. A great movie to simply have a good time with, as long as you aren't going to compare it too much to the original, or else you may end up feeling disappointed.

It's also a great looking movie. It has a very colorful and cartoonish look to it, which also really suits the premise of the movie, in which some strange looking food-animal hybrids show up. Very creative and great stuff to watch and maybe even the best and most entertaining aspect about this movie.

Far from being as great, surprising, funny and creative as the first movie but still a pretty good and enjoyable as a movie on itself.

7/10

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It's not hard to see why this movie is liked by so many. It's different from most other animated movies with its approach and humor and thank goodness it's not one that's aimed just toward young kids.

For a movie with such a silly and unlikely premise as this one has, it's actually a surprising subtle movie. It's subtle with both its storytelling and comedy, in the sense that it's not constantly all in your face with everything. The comedy doesn't get forced upon you, with constant screaming and other loud noises and characters jumping around and crashing into random stuff. It's more subtle than that, with its dialog, character expressions and unexpected things happening in the background or at the end of a shot. It all feels far more creative than just the average genre attempt and it's also definitely less generic. The movie is truly simply doing its own thing and in some ways it feels more like an old school cartoon with slapstick comedy in it than a modern computer animated movie.

The story is actually a very simple and straightforward one but perhaps that's also why it works out so very well. There are hardly any distractions in the movie its story. So no annoying side plots that aren't going anywhere or pointless secondary characters, who are just there to fill the screen. But also no other formulaic ingredients, such as a mustache twirling villain, that wants to take over- or destroy the world. The premise of the movie is very simple and it stays that way at all times but not without being without heart as well. It's an emotionally effective movie, due to its cute and likable characters and it's silly but yet a the same time very recognizable situations.

It's never a movie that's trying to be a hyper-realistic one. As a matter of fact, it loves to exaggerate with just about everything. It's a very colorful and typical cartoon-like looking movie, with also some very cartoon-like looking characters in it. Characters that are extremely small, characters that are extremely buff or fat, characters with big noises, characters with big eyes, crazy hair, crazy eyebrows and basically everything in between! It's a great and very fun look, that truly suits the story and its circumstances very well.

It's also good to see an animated movie that isn't trying to impress with its voice cast for a change. The movie doesn't feature the biggest or most well known names and I truly believe that all of the actors got cast simply because their voices suited the parts very well and not because their names would look good on the posters and other advertisements.

I basically had a great time watching this movie. It's genuinely fun, funny, cute and creative, despite of its very simplistic and ridicules sounding concept.

8/10

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Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Cody Cameron & Kris Pearn

Starring: Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader and others

Current release date: September 27, 2013

This movie tries a bit too hard to be funny and therefore it isn't really fun or funny to watch at all. Besides, what was with its story?

Thing that bothers me about this movie its comedy is that the overall movie has a realistic sort of grounded approach to it, however at the same time with some absolutely ludicrous situations and characters in it as well. It doesn't quite gel. The only 'normal' characters in the movie are the main character but they are surrounded by some absolute fruitcakes, who all do and say some absolutely outrageous and preposterous things. Normally if you would come across persons like this in real life, you would run away fast and never return, or do your best to avoid them in the future but in this movie the main characters keep returning to them, even for some advice on some very serious issues. Totally ridicules, if you are going for a comedy with a more serious type of story-approach, like this movie was obviously going for.

And thing that bothered me about the story is that it's basically treating cheating as something cute and part of modern life and marriage. Seriously, I really don't agree on some of the messages this movie is sending out. Only thing I agree on is that it's a pretty stupid thing to marry a person, when you only know him/her for just a couple of months. Of course you are going to run into some problems along the ride and of course you are going to have your in-differences and annoyances with each other. But that's not just part of marriage but of love in general. Once you are able to get through that period, than things are most likely going to get better for the two of you and you're indeed ready for a serious relationship and in the long run a serious and big commitment, such as marriage.

But enough from Dr. Love, the thing that annoys me about this movie its story is that it not only shows that it's OK and normal to feel for another person outside of your marriage but it tells you that it's OK to act upon it as well. I just don't know who I was supposed to feel and cheer for and what characters I wanted to see end up together, by the end of the movie. Without spoiling anything, lets just say that by the end of the movie I wasn't cheering for any of the couples. Nothing romantic about this movie its story really and it didn't work out for me at all. The developments didn't always feel right to me and I most certainly wouldn't recommend this movie to newlyweds!

Sure, you could say that the movie is going for a more realistic, honest and different type of approach to its subject but I just can't give the movie any credit for it, since it really doesn't work out all that engaging or funny to watch.

Yet, I also just can't hate this movie. I mean, it's just an insignificant little comedy, that I wasn't ever taking serious at all. And how could you, after seeing some of the absolutely silly things that this movie is doing. It's also not without its charm. Despite the fact that it handles its concept poorly, it's still a pleasant movie to watch, in terms of its style and tone. It's all due to the fact this is a very British movie, despite that it also has some American actors and characters in it.

It's a bad movie but not an entirely horrid one to watch as well.

5/10

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Flint Lockwood now works at The Live Corp Company for his idol Chester V. But he's forced to leave his post when he learns that his most infamous machine is still operational and is churning out menacing food-animal hybrids. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Cody Cameron & Kris Pearn

Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte and others

Current release date: September 27, 2013

Seriously, I love Sacha Baron Cohen as both a comedian and actor and I am actually still convinced of it that he will win an Oscar some day but this movie unfortunately was a big misstep.

Lets be honest. Is this movie in essence any better than a Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler or even Rob Schneider flick? In my opinion absolutely not! It suffers from the exact same problems and comedy-wise they have just about as many hits and misses in them.

It is simple; this movie its foremost problem is really its script. It's actually shockingly weak and simplistically written. First of all, it isn't being original enough in any way and second, the way it progresses is all extremely predictable. Nothing in this movie happens as a surprise but what is maybe even more disappoint and troubling is that the movie is lacking edge and punch. It's actually a pretty tame movie, by normal Sacha Baron Cohen standards, even though its concept and main character all sounds like something potentially offensive and politically incorrect. However I feel that nothing about this movie works out as anything offensive or edgy and Sacha Baron Cohen is simply just playing a comical character, that is way over-the-top and relies on written material, rather than Cohen's improvisation skills.

It really is a movie with more misses than hits in it, comedy-wise. And when it hits, it doesn't ever hit very hard. There are some mild laughs but that's about all I could get out of this movie.

I don't even feel that Sacha Baron Cohen plays a very good character in this case. It's a character that is way too over-the-top but yet he still never goes far enough with it. Aladeen is never really being cruel or threatening enough. His actions are just simply stupid and ignorant, in a childish kind of way.

The movie is never anything annoying or truly horrible to watch but still there is no good reason why you should ever go watch it, in the first place.

5/10

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(Review originally written at 15 August 2007)

"South Park" once perfectly spoofed Rob Schneider's career, by putting fake trailers for movies, of which in one he turned into a carrot. An obvious reference to this movie. It showed how he and all of his movies were always the same and often relied on just one simple comedy aspect. This movie is like that. It relies on just one big comedy joke; a popular hot girl and a dirty dumb old criminal accidentally swap bodies.

The humor and comedy is so simple and weak that at times you just can't help laughing at it. The sort of 'Austin Power's' effect, I would call it. So dumb, silly and predictable that it becomes hilarious at the same time . Such as the whole Biance plot line and rivalry, the story with the parents and so on. There really are some missed opportunities here and thats sort of weird since normally these type of movies are overfull with different often overly developed plot lines. Now everything remains mainly underdeveloped, which also doesn't make this the movie interesting or hilarious movie to watch. After a while the movie even starts to reuse some of its earlier jokes. Never a good sign when a comedy start to recycle its own jokes.

Rob Schneider is mostly overacting obviously but I think that's also one of the reasons why the movie still works out as a fun one. I also think he did a fairly good job at playing a girl who's suddenly in a man's body. It provides the movie with some good moments, the one more subtle than the other. The movie also has some good supporting actors but in much too small roles such as Robert Davi and Rachel McAdams before her days of fame. Adam Sandler unfortunately makes a totally unfunny appearance in the movie. There are some potentially fun characters in the movie but those remain mostly underused.

Of course the story also has some morals and messages in it. In my opinion it's a real shame that Hollywood comedies from this decade always feel the need to do this. But having said that, in this particular movie it isn't really distracting or anything but its still obviously present, especially toward the ending of course.

Obviously not a lot of things really make sense into the story but this is not just due to the ridicules concept but also some bad writing. For instance it doesn't get explained exactly why the school-losers and outcasts suddenly teamed up and get accepted by the 'hot chicks'.

In all fairness this is not a bad movie and it's certainly a watchable one. It's however also very simple, predictable and underdeveloped. That's why I just can't rate it any higher. But nevertheless I consider this a watchable movie. I guess it's especially hilarious with a couple of friends and A LOT of booze.

5/10

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