Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2

Review by Pete Roche

The sequel to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur blockbuster JURASSIC PARK warned moviegoers that “something has survived.”  Now the same holds true for meteorological cuisine in Swallow Falls, the fictitious town inundated by spaghetti twisters and precipitating pancakes in 2009’s CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS. 

Loosely based on the prize-winning 1978 children’s book by Ron and Judi Barrett, the cartoon caper sees inventor Flint Lockwood’s Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator machine convert water into burgers, pancakes, and spaghetti.  Of course, Flint’s machine (called the FLDSMDFR for short) goes haywire, and it’s only with a little help from his father and friends that the goofy scientist manages to halt the weird-weather calamity. 

The Smurfs 2

Review by Pete Roche

Dastardly Gargamel (Hank Azaria) has been living the high life since his undoing in 2011’s SMURFS.  Between upscale magic shows in Paris with his feisty feline, Azrael, the warty wizard spawns a pair of Smurf-like creatures in hopes of harvesting their “essence” to sustain his evil energy. 

The grey-skinned knockoffs—Vexy (Christina Ricci) and her brother, Hackus (J.B. Smoove)—don’t pack half the essence of the genuine article, leaving Gargamel disappointed and desperate.  So he tasks the two “Naughties” with kidnapping Smurfette (Katy Perry), who’s practically bubbling over with Smurf essence—and just happens to know the secret formula for concocting endless batches of the stuff.