Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

also known as “Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers”
MPA Rating: PG-Rating (MPA) for mild rude humor.

Reviewed by: Patty Moliterno
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Kids Family
Genre: Animation Action Adventure Family Comedy 3D Sequel
Length: 1 hr. 35 min.
Year of Release: 2013
USA Release: September 27, 2013 (wide—3,800+ theaters)
DVD: January 28, 2014
Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures click photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures

food in the Bible

animals

Kid Explorers™
Adventures in the rainforest! Learn about the Creator of the universe by exploring His marvelous creation. Fun for the whole family with games, activities, stories, answers to children’s questions, color pages, and more! One of the Web’s first and most popular Christian Web sites for children. Nonprofit, evangelical, nondenominational.
Featuring Bill HaderFlint Lockwood (voice)
Anna FarisSam Sparks (voice)
James CaanTim Lockwood (voice)
Will Forte … Chester V (voice)
Andy SambergBrent McHale (voice)
Benjamin Bratt … Manny (voice)
Neil Patrick HarrisSteve (voice)
Terry Crews … Earl Devereaux (voice)
Kristen Schaal … Barb (voice)
Cody Cameron … Barry/Dill Pickle (voice)
See all »
Director Cody Cameron
Kris Pearn
Producer Columbia Pictures
Sony Pictures Animation
See all »
Distributor Distributor: Columbia Pictures. Trademark logo.Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures

“Something big was leftover.”

Prequel to this movie: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” (2009)

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” is a sequel that continues where the first movie left off. The movie begins immediately after Flint Lockwood’s (voice of Bill Hader) food generator invention has buried Swallow Falls in food. Flint, Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), Baby Brent (Andy Samberg), Manny (Benjamin Bratt), Steve (Neil Patrick Harris), and Earl (Terry Crews) make a pact to start Sparkswood Labs and all work together cleaning up their town. Flint’s science “hero,” Chester V (Will Forte), appears and offers him a job in San Franjose, CA, which Flint accepts. Chester V leaves a team behind to clean up the island.

Sam begins working for a major television station, and Flint begins his “dream job.” In 6 months, one lucky employee of Live Corp. will join Chester V and an elite team of inventors. The employee will also be the recipient of the coveted orange vest. Flint works hard and on the day of the “vesting ceremonies,” he is not chosen, but manages to make a fool of himself. He goes home utterly rejected. Later that evening, Chester V asks Flint to work on a special project. It seems that the food generator has turned itself back on and is producing mutant food animals. Chester V tells Flint the world is in danger from the food animals, and Flint needs to return to the island and destroy his invention. Flint goes to the island with his friends and dad, and they encounter unimaginable beasts.

There are very few objectionable moments in this film. However, the ones that are objectionable bothered me much more than the original movie.

Violence: Several of the food monsters chase the humans. The Tacodile roars, and this may be scary to some children. There are several fight scenes. A man is eaten by a giant cheeseburger. I would think some young children may be frightened by some of the food animals.

Nudity: Baby Brent once again has several scenes with just a diaper on. He also squeezes into skinny jeans which do not fit. He is shown with his belly hanging over the jeans.

Sex: Flint and Sam kiss a few times.

Language: The phrase “I’m going to cut the cheese” is used and then the sound of breaking wind is heard. Cheese is actually being cut. The phrase “scratch her buns” is used when a burger animal rolls over and wants to be scratched like a dog.

Other: Coffee and other caffeinated beverages are given out in excess to pump up the inventors, and one inventor is seen wearing multiple caffeine patches. A calf is being delivered, and the doctor leaves midway through the delivery leaving the calf hanging out of the cow. Flint and Chester V both have developed wedgie-free underwear, and their underwear is stretched repeatedly.

After the movie is over and before the credits roll, there are numerous cartoon strip scenes. In a “YouTube” video someone gets hit in the crotch with a ball. Brent has a volleyball get stuck in his buttocks. A fortune cookie is shown being cracked open.

Flint learns what true friendship means. He also learns not to judge a book by its cover. In addition, Flint admits that he was wrong and asks his friends for forgiveness. Their response is a great example of how Christ forgives us, even when we don’t deserve that forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 says “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

This is a very creative movie. They did an excellent job developing the food animals, and there are several that are just adorable. In addition, several scenes in the movie are sappy and invoke an emotional response, however, that response iss short-lived due to the equally stupid scenes. I do not recommend this movie. Today, I viewed it with my husband and children. My 10 and 8 year old sons liked it, but my husband and I did not. My husband kept saying “this is a made-for-television movie.” In my opinion, the dumb scenes just were a little too bothersome for me.

Violence: Mild / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: Minor

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—I was fortunate enough to partake in an advanced screening of “Cloudy…” today, and I was looking forward to a long (and I mean 4 years long!) awaited sequel. As such, while I certainly wasn’t the primary audience this was geared towards (in a theater with 50-60 other children), I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the film in the end. The first installment was good, relatively clean, and enjoyable, and so is the second installment.

Parents can expect very little objectionable content (a minor scene of cross-dressing and some humor) and a fairly laughable experience (I don’t laugh often, and even I found many scenes enjoyable). I would say this installment’s plot is a little more complicated than what the trailers show, but not enough to make your head spin. As I walked out, I said, “Kids are going to LOVE this movie. I think it will do well.” Hours later, I still stand by that statement.

It’s about time clean entertainment came back to our children’s eyes. Thank you Hollywood. Perhaps this is the beginning of a new era of CLEAN contented movies. Time will tell. I give this movie a B
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½
wAlexander Malsan, age 23 (USA)
Positive—This was a great movie. It was just as good as the first one. I would recommend anyone to see it. I liked the way the food acts like animals, and some were so cute. I don’t remember the movie having any cursing in it. It is a movie we will have in our movie collection.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
Julie, age 41 (USA)
Positive—My brother and I took my 9 year old niece to this movie. She gave it a thumbs up, and we all enjoyed it and got some good laughs out of it. It isn’t a great movie with any kind of profound message, but works as a lighthearted entertainment. There were a number of kids there, and they laughed a lot and seemed to enjoy the corny humor and plays of words of the names of the animals.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Louis, age 52 (USA)
Positive—We just rented this movie tonight, and my kids loved it! It was bright, colorful, funny, and the food animals were so fun and creative! It was very clean with no curse words in it. There was a strong theme throughout about friendship and making right choices that benefit others and the world around us. There was one scene where one of the characters pants fall down slightly, and you can see a bit of his bottom, but other than that, there was nothing at all offensive. I thought it was as good as the first, and loved that Flint made good moral choices in the movie! A very fun movie for all ages! My kids are 2, 4, 6, 8, and 11 and they all enjoyed it. I really recommend this movie!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
Laurel, age 42 (USA)
Comments from non-viewers
Negative—I have not watched the movie and not planning to watch at all. I really wants to thank you for the perfect description. The language and scenes you had described is not something that I will exposed my kids. Even minor as you wrote. Thanks again!
Fernanda, age 40 (USA)

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