If Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs whet your appetite, get ready for its sequel. With virtually no time span between movies…Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 picks up right where the first one left off.
We start off with a flashback to little Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), bug-eyed in front of the television screen as a youngster, watching his hero, scientist Chester V (Will Forte).
Chester V performed amazing experiments with incredible results—like putting a human brain inside Barb (Kristen Schaal), his orangutan-turned-assistant with long painted nails.
The Scientist with his Steve Jobs-like-persona, looks straight into the camera, and says the words that changes Flint’s life forever.
“Can your ideas change the world?”
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Flint becomes obsessed with experiments, and one day he creates the Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator (FLDSMDFR), which turned water vapor and CO2 into food.
A hologram version of Chester V visits Flint, Sam (Anna Faris), his friend-sort-of-girlfriend, and the rest of his friends and family at the intersection of where flashback meets real time.
Chester invites Flint to come work for him…and the opportunity to wear Live Corp Company’s coveted orange vest. “I don’t get vests,” Tim Lockwood (Flint’s father) says. “Is it winter on your chest and summer on your arms?”
Flint Lockwood (Voice of Bill Hader) with his partner in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
The food needs to be cleaned up from the island, and Chester V is the man for the job. After relocating the citizens, Flint takes Chester up on his top-secret offer.
After blabbing his mission, he is joined by his father Tim (James Caan), Sam, Earl the policeman (Terry Crews), Manny the videographer (Benjamin Bratt), Steve the monkey (Neil Patrick Harris), and chicken-suit-wearing Brent (Andy Samberg).
Together, they travel through the new land created by the FLDSMDFR and meet amazing creatures. The FLDSMDFR evolved from creating just rain which turned into food.
It created these amazing live food creatures, including cheeseburger spiders, made with French fries for legs and sesame seed eyes, Taco-diles, fla-mangoes, and shrimpanzees. The creativity behind the food animals was really smart.
Flint’s job is simple: find the FLDSMDFR, insert the BS-USB, and stop it from creating these wild animals. What he doesn’t realize is that the BS-USB is just that, “B-S,” another inappropriate term for children.
With different challenges to overcome, and figuring out the real purpose behind Chester V’s plan, Flint learns that heroes can be over-idolized, and that if you work hard, you really can change the world, even if it’s your own little part of it.
As far as the plot goes, there isn’t a lot of “on-the-edge-of-your-seat” plot twists. Instead of suggesting that Chester V’s plan isn’t as noble as Flint expects, Chester says it outright.
Perhaps this is an attempt for children viewers to understand what’s going on, but with the level of innuendo and toilet-humor in the movie, it was hard to tell exactly who the target audience was for this film.
All in all, if you liked Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, you’ll probably like its sequel as well. But since the plot drags a bit, and the humor isn’t the most creative, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a film to rent and watch at home instead of seeing in the theater.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Biblical Worldview
Filled with sophomoric humor, the movie’s plot line did not fulfill any age group’s repertoire. While certain parts were humorous, it was rare that adults and kids were laughing at the same time.
The film starts with Flint and Sam kissing, and then talking about moving in together…to work.
A cow is seen giving birth out of its rear end, with the baby calf’s legs hanging out. Steve the monkey is asked where he got the brown crayon, when there is a brown streak on the paper that everyone used a blue crayon to sign.
The cheese spider webs create a basis for “cut the cheese” jokes, and Berry the strawberry gets so scared that it squirts out the BS-USB that it swallowed in a pile of jam, and Steve licks it off. The term “Oh fudge.” is used when something negative happens to one of the characters.
Brent is probably the most inappropriate character, with references to him wearing a diaper and wishing he’d brought a fresh one after being chased by the cheese-spiders. His bottom is seen being stuffed into a pair of “skinny jeans” that Flint is letting him borrow.
Flint and Sam in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Flint is not respectful of his father. He uses him as his guinea pig for each of his many experiments, yet doesn’t want to include him on any part of the adventure. Instead of letting him come with the rest of the group, he tells his father to stay on the boat. And his father does.
Instead of having the parent be in charge, yet again we have a children’s film that gives the majority of the power and authority to the child. In what is supposed to be a heart-gripping moment, his dad wishes that Flint would want to fish with him, instead of the sardine-hungry-pickles.
Chester and Flint do share a moment together, as they hang from the wedgie-proof underwear they each created when they were youngsters.
There are references to bullies and friends and how to tell the difference, which could be a conversation starter with a child. However, the underwear is a part of the entire long scene, and gives across the idea that if you are smart, you will be bullied…and therefore be given wedgies.
Characters Flint and Sam in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2; Photo Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Biblical Discussion
One theme from the film is the question Chester V asks to his viewers: “Can your ideas change the world?” A positive spin on the many experiments that Flint runs through is that creativity and being smart is a great thing. It’s okay to fail as long as you keep going.
Flint knew his talents were in science, and he pursued that dream. God has given abilities, talents, and gifts to His children, and we should strive to use them for His glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says “…if you do anything, do everything for the glory of God.”
As Christians, we know that an “idea” can revolutionize the world. How can your ideas change the world?
What are some special talents and abilities that God has given you?
How can you use those abilities to help others?
What ideas do you have that could change the world? What do you need to do to get started on making those ideas a reality?
To get more movie reviews from a Christian perspective please check out Bethany Jett’s review of Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters
Find more about the author at www.BethanyJett.com.
Leave a Reply