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Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (3D) is an incredibly fun movie for everyone to enjoy.  The film follows Flint Lockwood, a hopeful inventor, whose ideas for trivial yet helpful inventions always seem to end in some kind of failure.  His latest invention, a hilariously silly named device that turns water into food, surprisingly works to his and everyone in the town’s astonishment.  However, things quickly get out of control as giant portions of food begin to rain down from the sky, causing disasters of delicious proportions.

To start, the movie is absolutely hilarious.  The writing of the characters is brilliant because it allows the film to mock other film genres and tropes while also setting up who these characters are and their detachment from the norm as seen through this veil of humor.  Flint’s vocal narrations of his actions are both delightfully humorous and almost heartbreakingly flawed because it is such a deep part of his reality.

The rest of the characters are just as funny and likable, in large part due to the writing, but also due to the excellent performances given by the actors.  Bill Hader and Anna Faris turn in really strong performances, but the surprise of the film comes from Mr. T who brings all of his usual energy, but also adds in a great deal of heart and life to his character.  Additionally, each of the character’s relationships with one another are very well realized and touching, which brings purpose to nearly every character interaction within the story.

On top of all of this, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is visually stunning.  The animation style, color palate, and use of 3D all work together to form something that is incredibly entertaining and engaging to watch.  I’ve written before about how I may not be the best person to judge the use of 3D in the recent wave of films that have employed it, but I feel that this film really uses 3D to add a meaningful depth to the film and characters, where the same attempt felt unnecessary with Pixar’s UP.  There were no incessant or inane attempts to hurl objects out of the screen and into the audience, and I’m thankful for that.  It’s examples like this and hopefully Avitar that will show the world that 3D can be used to enhance a story and should not be used simply as a gimmick.

Overall, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is an incredibly entertaining film that the kids and parents can both enjoy and I’m definitely looking forward to purchasing it on Bluray.  Go see it in theaters and in 3D while you have the chance.

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