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| Homer Yen... |
 Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 2:51 pm |
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"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is Partly Sunny Fare
by Homer Yen
(c) 2009
Based on the best selling children's book of the same name, "Cloudy
with a Chance of Meatballs" is one of those types of projects that can
provide you with a pleasant diversion from the other live-action
films. Partially, it's a feel-good film about partnership. There's a
tiny bit of meet-cute romance in it. The novelty of the 3D
presentation may translate into an added visual delight. And, it has
that harmless energy that you might find on various cartoons on the
Nickelodeon Channel.
"Cloudy" is about as make-believe as you can get. There's a device
that translates the thoughts of monkeys. There are "live" chickens
that look ready to be put in the roaster that act as sentry guards.
Boats are constructed from the different ingredients of a deli
sandwich. And, on this little island in the ocean where the film
takes place, it also rains cheeseburgers. Now, these are a few things
that you certainly don't see in your run-of-the-mill film. These
creations are the result of an enormously intellectual wannabee
inventor named Flint (voiced by Saturday Night Live cast member Bill
Hader). He's the nerdy nerd that can't get a date, was never
challenged to a snowball fight when he was a little kid, is always
fighting for the approval of his dad, and spends most of his day in
his lab. There, he works furiously to visualize and to wire and to
weld and to construct. And one day...voila! He creates an amazing
machine that reformulates moisture into any food that the programmer
wants.
This premise allows for wondrous things to occur. Rainbows seem to be
really made of Skittles. Winter storms bring not snow but scoops of
fancifully flavored ice-cream. A castle made of Jell-O allows our
timid hero an opportunity to impress a girl that he likes. It's the
kind of stuff that tugs at the little kid inside all of us.
Trouble begins to cook when the self-serving Mayor (voiced by Bruce
Campbell) wants to use this invention for his own political purposes.
He manipulates young Flint into overworking his machine to the point
where they begin to lose control. Now, instead of it being an
instrument that could perhaps solve world hunger, it becomes an
instrument of destruction. The against-all-odds rescue that ensues,
the budding heroics of our meek inventor, and his realization of his
manhood happens satisfactorily although everything unfolds with a
sense of familiarity.
But I am grateful for the 3D experience, which gives the film an added
level of visual texture. Meanwhile, the quality is high enough so
that watching it for 90 minutes doesn't leave you with a slight
headache afterwards as other 3D films have come to do. There is no
eyestrain, for the film's running time is only 90 minutes and there
aren't any "coming-at-you" moments. The visual experience with those
special glasses on seemed as natural as watching your own television
in your living room. But, I did notice two nice things. Because of
the 3D effects, you could virtually sit anywhere in the theatre, and
the film would never seem too far away from you. Also, if you took
off your glasses, the raw picture looks only slightly disjointed. I'm
pretty amazed at how far 3D technology has come, and I'm looking
forward to the next "big" 3D film, "A Christmas Carol" in December.
Grade: B-
S: 0 out of 3
L: 0 out of 3
V: 1 out of 3 |
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