Entertaining and witty, but not essential

Although a sequel to 2009's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs makes commercial sense due to its modest box office success, it felt like a satisfying standalone story with seemingly no logical place for a follow-up to go. Plus, original writer-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller did not return in a significant creative capacity here, making 2013's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 appear even more like a purely profit-driven endeavour. Nevertheless, the resulting movie is surprisingly entertaining and witty, and it feels like an organic continuation of the original effort, even if it is not exactly an essential watch.

The story picks up right where its predecessor ended, finding the people of Swallow Falls ready to recover after the FLDSMDFR disaster. To tackle the mammoth task of removing the giant food all over the island, Live Corp CEO Chester V (Will Forte) sends in a cleaning team, and offers a corporate job to Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), the creator of the FLDSMDFR. Chester’s team soon disappears, and their desperate final video messages show sentient food monsters, or foodimals, running rampant all over Swallow Falls, suggesting that the FLDSMDFR is still functioning. If the foodimals continue to evolve and learn how to swim, they could threaten humanity. After Flint suffers great humiliation when he misses out on a promotion, he receives a much-needed chance to redeem himself when Chester sends the eager young inventor back to Swallow Falls to destroy his invention for good. Setting off with girlfriend Sam (Anna Faris), father Tim (James Caan), Officer Earl Devereaux (Terry Crews), Manny (Benjamin Bratt) and Brent (Andy Samberg), Flint travels into dangerous territory. However, Live Corp has nefarious plans for the island, with Chester and his orangutan assistant, Barb (Kristen Schaal), following Flint's crew to Swallow Falls.

With Lord and Miller receiving only story and executive producer credits, Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn take over directorial duties for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, working from a script by John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein and newcomer Erica Rivinoja. Whereas the original Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was an amusing take on classic disaster films, Cloudy 2 presents an animated spin on the science-gone-wrong monster movie, playing out with shades of Aliens, Jurassic Park and King Kong, with the characters encountering all sorts of exotic and dangerous creatures as they traverse the island. Plus, Sam's costume during the expedition is identical to Laura Dern's outfit in Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, Cloudy 2 lacks the dramatic and emotional material that elevated the first flick above the ordinary, and it feels more like an extended epilogue than a new, dramatically satisfying story. There is something here about the value of staying true to yourself, as Flint alienates his family and friends in his attempts to impress Chester, but it is not as effective as the social commentary of the first movie, which was about consumerism and the dangers of overconsumption. Cloudy 2 also has a half-hearted pro-animal message as the foodimals are not the villains here, but this stuff feels perfunctory and safe. Without emotion or heart, this sequel is more of a superficial experience.

Thankfully, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 retains the aesthetic style of the original picture, making it feel like a seamless companion piece. Despite a lower budget than the first flick, this is a vibrant, visually lush action-adventure with eye-catching animation, creative character designs and inventive food-based environments, while the writers go nuts with puntastic foodimal names. (There are tacodiles, shrimpanzees and watermelophants, to name a few.) The foodimals are fun to watch, with new creatures frequently appearing to invigorate the proceedings as the characters explore Swallow Falls. Over a hundred foodimals were designed for the movie, but less than half of them were actually used. A bit of corporate satire also sneaks into the flick, with the screenplay lampooning Silicon Valley, but puns, wordplay and one-liners are the script's primary focus, and it does deliver ample laughs. Although marginally longer than the first movie, Cloudy 2 only clocks in at a bit over 80 minutes, excluding credits, and the directors maintain high energy and a rapid pace throughout the picture. The plot is not always engaging, but there are almost always colourful visuals and amusing background details to behold. The soundtrack provides further pleasures, with composer Mark Mothersbaugh making his return, and with several wonderful songs appearing throughout the movie, including Paul McCartney's lovely song New, and the obvious but still amusing Yummy Yummy Yummy by Ohio Express.

The voice cast remains as appealing as ever, though the spark between Hader and Faris is not quite as pronounced as it was in the first movie. Caan remains fantastic and grounded as Flint's father, while Samberg is predictably manic, hamming it up and scoring many laughs along the way. Forte, who voiced another character in the original film, makes for a great villain here, giving Chester V plenty of spunk and personality. Also worth noting is co-director Cody Cameron, who voices Barry the Strawberry and all of the Pickles. Cameron's innocent, childlike voice is a great fit for the cute little characters. Meanwhile, Terry Crews is present here in place of Mr. T, who declined to return as Officer Devereaux and is the only original cast member who was recast. Crews is a gifted comedian, and he forgoes mimicry to make the role his own, with the animation team also incorporating his physical mannerisms.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is not as sweet or hilarious as the original movie, and it is a lighter flick that concentrates more on gags and colourful characters than thematic resonance. In the hit-and-miss realm of animated sequels, however, Cloudy 2 is above average, offering enough cartoonish goofiness to make it an entertaining watch for kids and adults alike. Just do not expect a Pixar-level sequel. It is doubtful that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs needed to be a franchise, but with one great movie and one worthwhile sequel, there are certainly worse places to look for family-friendly entertainment. A third movie did not materialise despite a completed script (with the title Planet of the Grapes), but the series did continue in the form of a poorly-received Netflix series without any of the original voice actors.