Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs (www.the-usher.com)

"It's okay... it's just pain."

For his entire life, Flint Lockwood (Hader) wanted nothing more than to be an inventor. Unfortunately his previous efforts like a remote controlled walking television, a monkey translator, a flying car and rat-birds didn’t go down well with the residents of Swallow Falls. Flint knew that is latest invention would change everything because it would change water into food. When he tries to power it up however, he realised he needed more electricity for it to work but when he plugs it into the power station, the device almost wrecks the entire town and rockets into the sky. With town cop Earl Devereaux (Mr T.) out to arrest him for wanton destruction, Flint thinks everything is lost but suddenly cheeseburgers start falling from the sky and he realises that hi invention has worked.

When it comes to computer generated animation, Pixar and DreamWorks are the kings of the box office but once in a while another studio creates something that will really wet the appetite of animated fans and ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’ does just that.

Both Pixar and DreamWorks Animation have dominated the computer generated animated movie genre for over ten years now. With the odd exception like the ‘Ice Age’ franchise, most of the big box office smashes and firm family favourites have come from the two goliath studios. With CGI animation cleaning up at the box office, most of the big studios wanted in on the action and Sony Pictures were the same. Setting up Sony Pictures ImageWorks, they enjoyed good box office with ‘Open Season’ and ‘Surf’s Up’ but neither of them hit the heights of some of the Pixar and DreamWorks releases. There latest adventure however, might just change that.

Loosely based on the children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ tells the story of budding inventor Flint Lockwood. From an early age it was clear that Flint was a scientific genius but he was a little too imaginative when it came to inventing things. Failures like remote controlled walking television, a monkey translator, a flying car that didn’t fly and the genetically engineered rat-birds had made him the joke of his home town Swallow Falls and a continued embarrassment to his father. This is all about to change when he switches on his latest invention, a device that will turn water into food. Unfortunately his first attempt ends in failure, as he doesn’t have enough power to allow the device to complete the process. Wanting to prove that he isn’t a failure, Flint decides to attach the device to the town’s main powerstation, which, of course, over powers the device launching it into the sky, never to be seen again, or so he thought. When a huge pink cloud covers the town and cheeseburgers start falling from the sky, Flint realises that his invention has worked. This is were the food orientated high jinx begins to produce one of funniest animated movies to be released in a long time.

Any animated movie is judged on its characters and the vocal talents that bring them to life and for “Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’ this is the movie’s strong point. While the film maybe filled with celebrity talent providing the voices, ImageWorks have taken a leaf out of Pixar’s book by creating a vocal performance and not just a cartoon version of themselves. An animated movie is a success when you really have to try and guess who is providing the vocal talent and stars Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan and Bruce Campbell do just that. As inventor Flint Lockwood, weather reporter Sam Sparks, Flint’s father Tim and the overly ambitious Mayor Shelbourne, the characters they create are made all the more funny and easier to connect with because you cannot tell it is them. The same can’t be said of Mr. T as Swallow Falls Police officer Earl Devereaux however but for once this doesn’t matter as Mr. T’s overly energetic sheriff steals every scene he is in. Also take a close look at Earl’s hairstyle, as it is the complete opposite of the legend’s own unique style.

‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’ is a gem of an animated movie. Funny characters combine with a well written script and excellent animation to produce a brilliant family film. The 3D version of the movie also works, especially during the raining food scenes and the energetic finale but this is a movie that works in whatever dimension you chose to watch it in, making it ideal family fun for everyone.

PICTURE & SOUND

The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition wide screen 2:40 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound, bringing out the brilliantly colourful design of the film.

BONUS FEATURES

Splat Mode
While you watch the movie, you can throw computer generated food at the screen, increasing the fun

Flint’s Food Fight Game
An enhanced version for Blu-Ray of the interactive game introduced by the star of the movie.

Commentary with writers/directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord and actor Bill Hader
The men at the helm and their star provide a madcap insight into the making of an animated blockbuster. This is a good listen for all fans of the movie, as Bill Hader is an incredibly funny guy.

A recipe for success: The Making of Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs (10.51 mins/HD)
Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, producer Pam Marsden, visual effects supervisor Rob Bredow, lead effects animator David Davis, art designer Mike Kuainsky, production designer Justin Thompson and stars Bill Hader and Anna Faris talk about adapting the beloved book into a family favourite movie.

Key Ingredients: The voices of Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs (12.39 mins/HD)
Directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord and voice actors Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, James Caan, Al Roker and Bruce Campbell talk about creating the sound of their characters for the movie.

Extended Scenes (2.36 mins/HD)
Entitled ‘Elevator Joke’ and ‘Twister – An early cut with awesome food fight’, these extended scenes suffer from the lack of an introduction or commentary to reveal why they were removed.

Early development scenes (5.47 mins/HD)
Entitled ‘Flint’s letter to super scientists Vance Lefleur’ and ‘Early storyboard for the twister sequence’, see how the film developed into the final scene.

Progression reels with introduction by Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Bredow (8.09 mins/HD)
Entitled ‘From conceptual paintings to final renderings – The Evolution of Colour’, ‘Roofless restaurant lighting tech’, ‘Environmental clouds surround the giant meatball’, ‘Making the spaghetti twister’ and ‘Food avalanche elements’, Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Bredow talks about the technical side of this computer-generated movie.

Miranda Cosgrove’s ‘Raining Sunshine’
Watch the music video and sing-a-long to the end credits track. Also go behind the scenes of the music video shoot with Miranda Cosgrove.

Trailers
Previews of ‘Open Season’, ‘Surf’s Up’, ‘Playmobile: The Secret of Pirate Island’ and ‘Open Season 3’

OVERALL

The Blu-Ray treatment for ‘Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs’ is one that fans of the movie will really enjoy. The featurettes and the commentary track are very good and the interactive games add some fun for the kids, making this a good Blu-Ray to add to your collection.

BLU-RAY

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2009