Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

2009 cartoon

Rating: 12/20 (Jen: 14/20; Emma: 18/20; Abbey: 20/20)

Plot: Flint Lockwood has always wanted to be an inventor. His dad's never supported him while his peers always made fun of him. At least he's got the support of his mother. But oh snap! She dies! He goes on inventing, usually with poor results. But he's getting close to his light bulb with a device that transforms water into food, and during the town's unveiling of a sardine-themed amusement park, he decides to test it out. The result? Oh, double snap! Giant foodstuff rains from the heavens which, although it temporarily puts the town on the map and fills tummies, starts to be problematic.

This was creative with a chance to be good but ended up loud with a chance to annoy me instead. I liked the animation fine. Well, everything but the people who looked a little flat and plastic. But I enjoyed the tones, and the screen was filled with lots of action to look at most of the time. Probably too much actually which might explain why I got a headache a quarter of the way through this and just wanted it to end. I really didn't like the characters or the humor in Cloudy, and all attempts to inject a little meaning into the absurdity felt unnecessary. Mr. T provides the voice for one character, the one character who represents one of the most annoying animated characters in recent history. This has some likable moments but it wears out its welcome fairly quickly. Maybe I needed to see it in 3-D.