Synopsis: When hard times fall on his city, and everyone is forced to eat only sardines, Sam Sparks creates a machine that turns water into food. When it malfunctions though he must save the town from being buried under piles of food.
Release Date: September 18, 2009 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Animation, Children and Family
Film Review
Production
It’s raining every type of imaginable food, and I like it. This movie may not be full of laughs but it is full of visually delightful animation and has a great moral at its core: accepting people for who they are and loving them all the more for being unique. With the not so mad scientist Flint creating food out of water all sorts of chaos breaks out when the ‘food weather’ takes a terrible turn for the worse. That is when the real fun begins and the action adventure element of the story takes flight, literally. Be prepared to battle evil Gummy Bears and headless chickens defending their creator. Along with a wonderfully greedy, obese and grossly excessive town Mayor. There is also a really sweet love story thrown in between Flint and the weather girl, Sam Sparks. If you want something entertaining, light, and fun for everyone this film will not disappoint.
Animation
When dealing with characters, the animation does not have much originality or depth. They all have the same eyes and expressions leaving no room for variation on personality. Luckily, the writing helps to sustain personality and create fun loving animated characters who charm you into liking them more and more as the film continues. In terms of production design, the animation is astonishing. Every piece of food that drops from the sky looks good enough to eat. From hot dogs to hamburgers, to a spaghetti and meatballs tornado, your eyes feast upon the great detail given to every aspect of this part of the animation. Oh, and how can I forget the amazing ‘Leftover Mountain’ and its avalanche sequence; completely spectacular rendering. And for anyone who is familiar with toys from the 1980s, you will be delighted to see the random ‘artifacts’ scattered about in Flint’s lab. It is these small, and often large, details that make the animation a success.
Comedy Factor
Aside from a few giggles and a cute monkey who spouts out random thoughts via a thought translator there are no laughs in this movie. It comes across with more of a dramatic tone and deals a lot with family dynamics and personal insecurities. The lack of laugh out loudness does not hurt the movie overall in any way, but it would have been nice to have a tad bit more fun with the fact that food is falling from the sky.
Cast and Crew
- Director(s): Phil Lord
- Producer(s): Phil LordChris Miller
- Screenwriter(s): Anna Faris (voice of Sam Sparks)Bruce Campbell (voice of the Mayor)Neil Patrick Harris (voice of Steve The Monkey)
- Story: Bill Hader (voice of Flint Lockwood)
- Cast: Andy Samberg (voice of Brent) Justin Thompson
- Editor(s):
- Cinematographer: Mark Mothersbaugh
- Production Designer(s):
- Costume Designer:
- Casting Director(s):
- Music Score:
- Music Performed By:
- Country Of Origin: USA