Following the events of the first film, the whole population is forced to relocate to San FranJose in order for the cleanup to begin. Chester V (Will Forte) personally invites Flint (Bill Hader) to join his organization in order to become an inventor. Blinded by his childhood hero, Chester V, Flint embarks on a dangerous mission back to his home island in order to take control of his infamous machine that is now producing food animals.

Having had watch this couple of times, once alone and once with the family, it’s really a hit and miss. The film offers everything kids want to see, dazzling colorful worlds, imaginary creatures, silly actions by the characters in the movie, etc. So by the time the credits roll, you have a movie that has a very good appeal for the younger crowd and adults alike. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 takes right after the events of the first film, giving viewers a quick recap to refresh their memory. The story takes a slightly different route from the first film where Flint created a machine to create food, now the “normal” evolution is that foodimals are now being created by the machine. In this sequel we see a transition in the story, we follow more characters whether they are completely fleshed out is another story, but we get to see more this time around. We see more of the relationship between Flint and his dad as well as his friends since the story lends itself for the adventure and discovery.

The dazzling and beautiful world offers enough to satisfy even the videoholics with the beautiful transfer. The voice overs are done by the likes of Bill Hader, Will Forte, Andy Samberg and James Caan to name a few. Combined with the energetic and action comedy, Cloudy 2 is sure to entertain the family. Or at least I think it will. I really wanted to like the sequel, since the first one was actually good, but after my second viewing I felt it fell short. The comedy, while it had its moments, which I enjoyed mind you, it also had many jokes that just fell short. Maybe it was the pressure to deliver something that imitated the success of the first. Whatever it was, Cloudy 2 could have been better in many sequences, which is a shame really because I really thought the premise of the story was promising.

Sony’s presentation of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 arrives on Blu-ray with a beautiful 1080p MPEG4-AVC transfer. In what appears to be a demo worthy presentation, Cloudy 2 offers a dazzling video transfer full of life and color. The image is crisp and very vivid with excellent clarity throughout. The picture offers colors from all different ranges, it’s a beautiful sight. Detailing in the picture is excellent and many characters like Steve for example whose fur features a great set of details. Other examples lie in the “foodimals” whose intricate textures are often very visible. Dark colors are deep and inky. On top of it all, there was great depth in the picture. There were no signs of aliasing or banding in sight. This is definitely a demo worthy disc without a doubt; Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 looks superb on Blu-ray!

Much like the 2D counterpart, the 3D version is identical in the visuals department although the 3D aspect adds more to the experience that was Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2. The 3D effects were great and there was always a sense of depth in between the objects. The effects ranged and they always felt natural, however, a few sequences seemed not needed. The good news is that no signs of ghosting was detected so this is a good solid 3D release.

Sony couldn’t have rounded the release of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 without having an equally excellent audio transfer. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master audio track is fantastic. The dialogue is clean and clear with excellent directionality. The best part of the track is when Flint and company finally make it to the island. This is a key moment when the track really lets loose because it’s active at all times. The rears are always filling the track with atmospherics and ambience effects. Listening to the active jungle and animal noises is fantastic. The LFE is spot on providing support when needed whether it is low rumble or thumping noise, it’s there and it does it with accuracy. The track even has space to let the soundtrack flow freely through the speakers. No problems were detected in this audio track. This track sounds fantastic on Blu-ray!

Audio Commentary – featuring Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn. The two filmmakers talk about the film and ideas behind the sequel and they often offer tidbits of information throughout the film. However, the I found this track to be rather stale and not really engaging.

Mini-Movies: Steve’s First Bath (5:02), Super Manny (4:22), Attack of the 50 Foot Gummi Bear (5:58), and Earl Scouts (6:39).

Deleted Scenes

Production Design: Back to the Kitchen (6:50) – Filmmakers talk about the creation of the story behind Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.

Cloudy Cafe: Who’s on the Menu? (6:53) – The voice actors talk about their characters in the film.

Anatomy of a Foodimal (6:04) – The actors and filmmakers briefly talk about the “foodimals” or food creatures found in the film.

Awesome End Credits (6:09) – Pete Oswald & Craig Kellman discuss the ending animated sequence. The animators break down the way it was created and the ideas that went into making the ending.

Music Video (3:25) – La Da Dee by Cody Simpson

Making of the La Da Dee Music Video (00:59) – The artist and music producer briefly discuss the ideas behind the music video La Da Dee.

Building The Foodimals (3:50) – This piece goes behind the scenes to show the viewers the creation of a few of the foodimals in the films.

Delicious Production Design (5:11) – Take a look early concept art that helped the filmmakers create Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2.

The Mysterious Sasquash (3:08) – Filmmakers talk about the foodimal “Sasquash”, a character that was created with the sole purpose of being am easter egg. This piece will show viewers every scene in which the Sasquash appears.

Previews

UltraViolet Copy

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 is lively and fun no doubt, but did it meet the same standards as the first film? Perhaps not, but in its own way the fresh ideas integrated into the movie are worth a mention. The Blu-ray looked fantastic whether 3D or 2D; the image quality is some of the best out there. The audio was equally impressive matching and supplementing the video. The Blu-ray disc includes plenty of featurettes, some are more entertaining than others, but you definitely need to make time to watch them. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 comes highly recommended.