Are you surprised that I even gave this movie the time of day? So was I. I had finished watching something I’d recorded, and this movie just happened to be on at that time. Before I realized what I was watching, a few genuinely funny things happened, so I continued watching just to kill a few miniutes. I quickly realized I would want to watch the whole thing from the beginning, and set my PVR to record it the next time it came on.

The name alone suggests that it’s going to be a lame movie that only young kids would get a laugh out of. The animation style and the fact that it’s available in 3-D doesn’t help. What I did not know until I saw the credits was that this movie was done by the same people behind Clone High U.S.A. – a very adult cartoon sitcom that draws much of its humour from messed up dialogue and social awkwardness – which is exactly my kind of humour. And even though the jokes in this movie are kid-friendly, the writers didn’t lose any of the impact of their style of humour.

If you’ve seen Clone High U.S.A. then you’ll recognize the writing style. The interactions between the main dude and main chick in this movie are almost a perfect mirror of Abe and Joan.

It’s unfortunate that this movie came across as lame and pre-schooly in its advertisements. I think it’s missing a big portion of its potential audience because of that. Kids will watch it because it’s a mild adventure story about giant food raining from the sky – adults will enjoy it because it makes a great comedy. But unless you have kids, you’ve probably avoided this movie as I did.

Something else that occured to me as I watched it was the surprising lack of innuendo. Most movies that are written for both kids and adults contain some degree of innuendo that will go over the kids’ heads but gives the grown-ups something to giggle about – and then tell the kid that they’ll explain it when they’re older. Shrek is notorious for that. Many parents feel uncomfortable letting their child watch movies with hidden sex jokes – no matter how well they’re hidden. You don’t have to worry about that with Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. I could find no innuendo in this film. And I’m a guy who tends to think in terms of “That’s what she said”. Apart from a hinted joke about poop, this movie is very clean, which is another thing I have to give them props for. (…Unless it all just went over my head…)

If 3-D televisions were cheaper, I would recommend watching this movie in 3-D. Instead, the best I can recommend is mooching off of a rich friend and watching it at their place. I haven’t seen it in 3-D myself but I can tell from the cinematography that they put a lot of thought into the 3-D effects.

It’s also worth multiple viewings. There are a lot of jokes I didn’t catch the first time around – many of them to do with England.

Best disaster movie ever!

(I say that as someone who hates disaster movies. But in this case it’s a compliment. If for no other reason, it’s the only disaster movie I’ve ever liked.)

(JOKE SPOILER) I was in the middle of drinking when Sam Sparks said, “America! Hi! I didn’t see you there.” Long story short, I had to change my shirt.