Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Firstly, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs is a mouthful. Secondly, it’s based on the children's book by Judi Barett. In the book, Chewandswallow is a town where the meals of the day are dependent on the weather. So, it would rain meals three times a day. The film adaptation reveals the origins of this peculiar weather.

Bill Hader is the voice of Flint Lockwood, a local inventor who aspires to spark change with his inventions. Nonetheless, like all great inventors, Lockwood goes through failures before he succeeds in creating a machine that turns water into food. Alas, like all Hollywood movies, something must go wrong, and an uncontrollable mishap takes place, causing food and beverage to terrorise the town. It’s slightly childish, but you have to bear in mind that it is based on a book for kids. But it’s got comedy, drama, and it also has an identity without being cliché.

Although it’s not the usual ‘KLue’ feel, it really is good fun to watch. It’s movies like these that do the whole suspension-of-disbelief thing justice. Being immersed into this world of comic fantasy, extreme colour contrast and giant food falling from the sky, is really allowing yourself to be a kid again. If you haven’t read the story book before (a very short read), I do recommend you to do so before you watch the movie, because it’s like Star Wars, where 4, 5, and 6 were shown before 1, 2, and 3. This magical story is really brought to life when you watch the characters interact and out-of-this-world sound effects. Expect silly smiles and fun for the whole family.

Cast Andy Samberg, Anna Faris, Bill Hader Director Chris Miller, Phil Lord Runtime 81mins Opens 15 October 

Text Jit S'ng Kok