When making a sequel, the most important thing that a writer should do before writing is to consider whether or not the story can continue. There are some films in my mind where I feel that the first film ended on a perfect ending and that it shouldn't have a gotten a sequel yet it did so anyway to not very stellar results. "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2" is sadly one of those sequels. This film is by no means a train wreck as I did find some elements pretty good, but for the most part, I found it both pointless and also pretty predictable. That's not a good sign for a sequel and here's why I think this film didn't go over so well.
After getting a heavy recap of the first film in a few minutes, the film picks up immediately where the last film ended with Flint (Bill Hader) and Sam (Anna Farris) doing that very awkward kiss. After having defeated Flynn's invention that turns water into food, the two as well as Flint's father Tim (James Caan), Brent (Andy Samberg) and Earl (Terry Crews) are met by a wealthy famous inventor and Flint's childhood icon named Chester V. (Will Forte) who tells them that the inhabitants of the now food covered Swallow Falls are now being relocated to San Franjose, California in order for V's company Live Corp. to do a massive clean up of the island. Six months go by, and Flynn is eventually called by Chester to his office where it's revealed that food machine survived and is now making killer food animals on the island. Hoping to save the world Flynn and the team go back to the island to destroy the food machine once and for all, and from there it's kind of predictable though I'm not going to spoil the movie for those that want to see it.
I think the major problem with this film is that it didn't have the same magic touch that Phil Lord and Chris Miller gave to the first movie. The writing was really good for a debut movie and I really liked how the duo was able to make a familiar story seem brand new. That wasn't the case for this film. The story is really predictable and consists of a lot of jokes that mostly all fall flat. They comprise of food puns and I didn't chuckle or laugh at one of them. If they had relied less on stating what the creatures names were and just let the audience come up with their names, it would've been funnier as the audience's imagination is more creative than the writers. Not only that, I feel that the story didn't need to be continued. There was really no reason to see these characters again or return to the world they live in. The first film ended perfectly and that's how it should have stayed. The animation, on the other hand, is fantastic for the most part. Everything is very well detailed and had some gorgeous colors and landscapes and I loved how rapid and fast the characters movements were, though I will admit that some of the models in the film didn't look like they were fully rendered. While watching it, I saw that the character models kind of looked rubbery and unfinished at times which was pretty distracting. The old characters have most of their charm to them. I liked the relationship between Finn and Sam liked the first film as well as Flint and his father and even though I find Earl and Brent annoying at times, I still felt that they were funny at times. Now as for Chester V., I'll try my best not to spoil this, but here's how I'll put it. For those of you that saw "Up", his reveal as a character is very similar to another character in the aforementioned movie. It was really predictable knowing who he was at the beginning of the film kind of bogged down the experience. As for other characters, there's really not a lot of new ones with the exception of a talking ape named Barb. I did really like her character though it might be due to the fact that she's voiced by Kristen Schaal whom I've always liked.
So, I really can't recommend you watch "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2". It has some likable moments to it, but the story is predictable and pointless, the animation while still fantastic is a little unfinished at times, and the new characters don't leave much of an impact. In my mind, this is a film sequel that you don't really have to watch. I would just stick to the first movie and I think everyone will be happy.
