By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)
Some viewers might be gasping for air after watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. A huge part of this movie relies on sight gags and figuring out the names of the various foodimals—creatures born from food before they are identified. Deep in the torrid jungle of leeks, apple-piethons and widebeets is a plethora of puns that are only really effective to hear once. When the best parts of the movie are revealed in the early trailers, to finally see those moments on the big screen falls flat. If there is a part of the film that works, that’s with the end-credits since no one has seen an early preview of.
The story here is borrowed from a familiar concept: Chester V (Will Forte) is a wealthy and much adored scientist who runs The Live Corp Company. He rides on the work and success of other scientists’ ideas. If he has created anything new lately, the movie does not show any sign of it. He’s a mishmash of innovators—like that of Thomas Edison or Steve Jobs—who has more than a futurists’ vision of how life should be like in the next century. Even Walt Disney had a foresight to create a wonderful world; in this movie, it’s an island paradise occupied by living plants and manufactured food products.