Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a 2013 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The sequel to 2009's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (which in turn was loosely based on Judi and Ron Barrett's book of the same name), the film was directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller returning as executive producers. Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, and Benjamin Bratt reprise their roles from the first film, while Will Forte, who voiced Joseph Towne in the first film, voices Chester V. in this one. New cast members includes Kristen Schaal as orangutan Barb and Terry Crews as Officer Earl, replacing Mr. T in the role. The film's plot involves Flint Lockwood and his friends returning to Chewandswallow to save the world after the presumably-destroyed FLDSMDFR reawakens, this time producing sentient food animals. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 was released in the United States on September 27, 2013, and grossed over $274 million worldwide against its budget of $78 million.

Plot
Eight minutes after the events of the first film, Inventor Flint Lockwood and his friends celebrate their success of saving the world from the food storm created by the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (FLDSMDFR) but this has left their island home town of Swallow Falls covered in food. Super-inventor Chester V, the CEO of Live Corp and Flint's childhood idol, offers his company's services to clean the island and helps to relocate the population to nearby San Franjose, California. Chester also invites Flint to work at Live Corp.

Six months later, Chester shows Flint that the island is flourishing with sentient food created by the FLDSMDFR in the form of "foodimals", and that some are trying to swim from the island, potentially threatening the world. Chester tells Flint he needs to travel to the island, find the FLDSMDFR, and insert a special USB device into it to destroy it to end the threat. Though the mission is meant to be classified, Flint invites his friends to help: his girlfriend and meteorologist Sam Sparks; her cameraman Manny; police officer Earl Devereaux; Steve, his pet monkey who communicates via a device on his chest; and a former celebrity mascot, "Chicken" Brent. He also grudgingly accepts the help of Tim, his father, who takes them to the island by his fishing boat. When Chester learns that Flint is not alone, he and his assistant Barb, a super-intelligent orangutan, soon follow along with several Live Corp employees.

While Tim stays with the boat, Flint and his friends work their way through the jungle-like environment that now covers Swallow Falls and encounter the numerous forms of foodimals, including a strawberry they call "Berry". Chester arrives shortly, offering to help Flint. Sam becomes suspicious of Chester's motives, as his claims that the foodimals are dangerous do not align with what they have observed already. Flint refuses to accept Sam's statement, resulting in a heartbreaking argument between the couple and she and the rest of Flint's friends leave on their own, eventually getting captured by the Live Corp employees.

Flint, Barb and Chester track down and locate the FLDSMDFR. As Flint is about to insert the USB device, the sentient machine creates a baby Marshmallow, showing Flint its newfound love of creating foodimals, and that it has changed. Flint recognizes the mistake he almost made, as the machine, which attached itself to the island's ecosystem and altered it in the process, is acting as a brain to all the foodimals on the island, and it is not dangerous to them in any way. He refuses to use the USB device, but Chester forces his hand, and with the device, is able to seize control of the FLDSMDFR. Chester announces his plan to use it to create more foodimals, and with those and the ones being captured on the island as they speak, he will make food bars out of them. Chester knocks Flint into a river, where he is rescued by the Marshmallows and reunites with Tim. Without the FLDSMDFR, he and his father find that the existing foodimals on the island are unable to produce new foodimals and flourish, and Flint vows to get his machine back with the help of Berry.

Tim helps Flint and Berry sneak into the Live Corp base. As Berry frees the foodimals, Flint challenges Chester to turn over the FLDSMDFR, but Chester threatens to use his friends in his food bar processing machine. Flint is able to use his inventions to beat Chester and free his friends, along with Barb's help after Chester shows how little respect he has for her. Chester falls into a grinder, but survives by the protection of his orange vest. He flings towards the exit and tries to escape, but is devoured violently by a cheespider. Later, Flint returns the FLDSMDFR to the rock candy mountain where he found it, and successfully reactivates it. Doing this allows the machine to continue being sentient, and create foodimals at its own will. The continue foodimals flourish naturally. Flint reconciles with Sam and Tim, who lets him try out fishing for the first time. It is shown during the credits that the residents of Chewandswallow return to their proper homes, adapting to the altered ecosystem and happily continuing their lives. The FLDSMDFR still continues its love of foodimal production, as they continue to flourish with the humans.

In a mid-credit scene, Barb develops a crush on Steve, attempting to ask him out on a date.

Voice cast

 * Bill Hader as Flint Lockwood, an inventor.
 * He also voices the FLDSMDFR, as he did in the first movie.
 * Bridget Hoffman as Young Flint Lockwood. She replaces Max Neuwirth for the role.
 * Anna Faris as Samantha Sparks, a weather intern from New York City and Flint's girlfriend.
 * James Caan as Timothy Lockwood, Flint's widowed father who loves to fish
 * Will Forte as Chester V, Flint’s childhood idol who is a world-famous super-inventor and the head of Live Corp
 * Andy Samberg as Brent McHale, Flint’s old bully and an infamous/former celebrity mascot of Baby Brent's Sardines, now known as Chicken Brent.
 * Neil Patrick Harris as Steve, Flint's pet vervet monkey who communicates using a Speak and Spell monkey thought translator Flint invented; however, he only has a limited vocabulary and mostly just says his name, says a few random things, and reminds Flint that he's hungry.
 * Benjamin Bratt as Manny, Sam's Guatemalan cameraman and a former doctor, pilot, and comedian.
 * Terry Crews as Officer Earl Devereaux, the town's athletic cop. Crews replaced Mr. T for the role.
 * Kristen Schaal as Barb, Chester V's talking and lipstick-wearing orangutan with a human brain.
 * Khamani Griffin as Cal Devereaux, Earl's son. Griffin replaced Bobb'e J. Thompson for the role.
 * Al Roker as Patrick Patrickson, the anchorman of the weather station.
 * Cody Cameron as Barry the Strawberry and Dill Pickles.
 * Melissa Sturm as Sentinel Louise and Live Corp Scientist.
 * Kris Pearn as Shrimpanzees, Sentinel Peter, and Labcoat Jenny.
 * Craig Kellman as Flintly McCallahan and Idea Pants Guy.

Development
The first news of the sequel came out in April 2010, when website io9 reported that the original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, won't return for the sequel. In December 2011, it was reported that Cody Cameron, the story artist on the first film, and Kris Pearn, the head of story on the first, would direct the sequel, with Lord and Miller serving as executive producers. John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Erica Rivinoja wrote the screenplay, which is based on an original story idea, not on Pickles to Pittsburgh, Ron and Judi Barrett's follow-up book. In February 2012, it was announced that the sequel would be titled Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers, but it was later retitled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Casting
Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, and Benjamin Bratt reprised their roles. The role of Earl, the town cop, was taken over by Terry Crews, since Mr. T declined to return. Kristen Schaal joined the cast to voice Barb, a talking and lipstick-wearing orangutan with a human brain. Will Forte, who voiced Joseph Towne in the first film, voices Chester V, a world-famous super-inventor who commands Barb and is the head of the Live Corp Company. On January 17, 2013, concept art from the film was released.

Music
The music was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. Cody Simpson provided a single "La Da Dee", which was played at the film's end credits. Simpson also performed in a music video that incorporated footage from the film. Paul McCartney's single, "New", from his 2013 album, was featured in the film.

Release


Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 was originally scheduled for release on December 20, 2013, then pushed to February 7, 2014, before moving up to September 27, 2013.

In promotional events before the film's release, Sony Pictures Animation partnered with some produce companies to provide more than 200,000 lb of produce for Feeding America's action to help children and families in need. Several food-packing events across the country were organized, with Anna Faris and Will Forte attending the main one in Los Angeles. Sony teamed up with marketing partners in the United States to promote the film through Subway Kids Meals with a set of 6 customized bags.

Home media
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 28, 2014. The home media was accompanied with four short animated films based on the main feature: Super Manny, Earl Scouts, Steve's First Bath, and Attack of the 50-Foot Gummi Bear. Two of the shorts, Super Manny and Earl Scouts, were already released online before the media release, premiering in October 2013 on Univision and Fandango,  respectively. David Feiss directed all four shorts, which feature a computer-generated wraparound animation and a hand-drawn animation, provided by Six Point Harness.

Critical response
On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 71%, based on 121 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "While not as clever or inventive as its predecessor, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 compensates with enough dazzling visuals to keep younger viewers entertained." Another aggregator, Metacritic, gave the film a score of 59 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, saying "While not as delightfully breezy as the original, an engaging voice cast and hordes of 'Foodimals' still manage to serve up a tasty sequel." Linda Barnard of the Toronto Star gave the film three out of four stars, saying "At its heart, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is fun, even if it is occasionally so chaotic it tramples the movie's flow like a herd of stampeding Buffaloafs." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three out of four stars, saying "The movie is better in every respect than the original Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. It's also more fun than all three Ice Ages; Monsters University; Planes; Epic; Despicable Me 2; and though I could go on, I won't." Jordan Hoffman of the New York Daily News gave the film four out of five stars, saying "Cloudy 2 is loud, weird and chaotic—just as kids like it. There's plenty of screaming and running while arms flail about, and even the obligatory message bit is given a healthy dose of 'yeah, yeah, yeah.' Your car ride back from the theater won't be a quiet one, but sometimes it's good to have a sugary treat." Dave McGinn of The Globe and Mail gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Unfortunately, the film promises more fun and laughs than it delivers, and this meal tastes like too many that have gone before it." Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film four out of five stars, saying "It's the rare [sequel] that takes the spirit of the original and runs with it, coming up with something uniquely good in its own right."

Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film three out of four stars, saying "For all its properly surreal mayhem, this flick isn't quite as nimble or emotionally rounded as its predecessor." Sean O'Connell of The Washington Post gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "Kids will chuckle, for sure. But parents who were pleasantly surprised by the original film's intelligence will miss Lord and Miller's guiding hands, as what once felt so funny now leaves a stale taste." Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film one out of four stars, saying "Whelk, I hope the makers of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs earned a nice celery, but I'm afraid they made a hash of things. A hash seasoned with oy sauce." Rafer Guzman of Newsday gave the film one and a half stars out of four, saying "Mostly, Cloudy 2 relies on the usual noxious recipe for junky kid flicks: loud noise, pop music and poop jokes." Miriam Bale of The New York Times gave the film three out of four stars, saying "At times it felt as if this film might challenge Pixar's decade-long reign, but that promise wanes. Instead, the movie is sometimes so strange, colorful and wildly cute that it may end up becoming a Yellow Submarine for a new generation." Tom Russo of The Boston Globe gave the film two out of four stars, saying "It's another brightly rendered effort, but, as the title indicates, a lot of the real creativity seems to have been used up the first time around." Mike Clark of USA Today gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying "There's not a surprise or moment of tension to be found here, but the film is all energy and color that makes the discomfort of 3-D glasses seem worth it."

Jocelyn Noveck of the Associated Press gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Your enjoyment will probably depend on your tolerance of those countless food-based puns dreamed up by script writers Erica Rivinoja, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Some might find these tiresome, but let's just note here that this is a kid movie, and KIDS LOVE PUNS. So they laugh at 'There's a leek in the boat.' And they laugh even more the second time." A. A. Dowd of The A.V. Club gave the film a C, saying "Like too many sequels, this second helping of Meatballs confuses bigger for better, piling on the action but misplacing much of the original's charm." David Hiltbrand of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three out of four stars, saying "This scrumptious sequel follows the same recipe as the 2009 original." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film two out of four stars, saying "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a humorous yet unfocused romp, so unwilling to settle on a single theme that hyperactivity medication should be handed out with the 3-D glasses." Matt Patches of Film.com gave the film 7.1 out of 10, saying "The 2009 original separated itself from the Pixar and Dreamworks competition with a joke-first approach. The sequel quadruples the recipe, with gags on top of gags on top of gags in a way only animation could achieve. Like a foodie Jurassic Park conjured up by Tex Avery, Cloudy 2 is a sight to behold … as long as your brain hasn't turned to mush by the halfway point."

Amy Nicholson of The Village Voice gave the film a positive review, saying "The Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs franchise takes its comic cues from The Muppets and Pee Wee's Playhouse, kids' shows that ripen as their audience matures." Keith Staskiewicz of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B, saying "While no one was exactly crying out for second helpings of this animated meat-eorology franchise, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 is charming enough on its own not to feel like just reheated leftovers." Steve Davis of The Austin Chronicle gave the film two out of five stars, saying "For both kids and adults, CWCM2 is little more than a vague memory as soon as it's over." Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying "What Erica Rivinoja, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein's script lacks in lingering nutritional value, it compensates for with amusing food puns. If nothing else, the pic's zany tone and manic pace are good for a quick-hit sugar high." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave the film three and a half stars out of five, saying "Honestly, anyone who can pull off a running joke about leeks that does not make you gag, and is in fact a silly delight, deserves props." Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, saying "Unlike so many sequels, this fun-filled 3D adventure is sure to entertain younger kids but also charm the adults who will be accompanying them to the multiplexes."

Box office
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 grossed $119,793,567 in North America, and $154,532,382 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $274,325,949. Its budget was reported at $78 million, while Sony spent $48.2 million for the film's marketing in the United States, and $41.3 million in other countries.

In North America, the film earned $9.3 million on its opening day, and opened to number one in its first weekend, with $34,017,930. In its second weekend, the film dropped to number two, grossing an additional $20,950,192. In its third weekend, the film dropped to number three, grossing $13,774,742. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped to number five, grossing $9,672,791.

Video game
A video game titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, published by GameMill Entertainment, was released on September 24, 2013 for Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. A free mobile game titled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2: Foodimal Frenzy was developed by PlayFirst and released for both iOS and Android devices.