The first film was great fun, a little rushed but colourful, hilarious and quite inventive in visuals and humour. This sequel is enjoyable, unnecessary perhaps but there have been far worse animated sequels around(as well as better). The story is half-baked and reads of predictable left-overs; Bill Hader's voice acting can sound over-compensated; the drama can get a little too sentimental at times- especially when getting its well-intended but a mite heavy-handed messaging across- which can bog down the film; and it lacks the spontaneity and very razor-sharp timing of the original(though not entirely devoid of those qualities) with some hit-and-miss puns, most are very enjoyably daft but others are too obvious and hastily timed. However the animation is great, the bright vibrant colours, inventive visuals of the food and food machines, colourful landscapes and well-designed characters are lovely to watch. The catchy soundtrack also delights, it'll leave your toes stepping, your face smiling and you in a good mood. Not all the writing works but when it does there are some really fun sight gags that come by thick and fast though with enough time for you to savour them, delightfully surreal "foodimals" and some snappy if daft puns(when they're not too obvious). The highlights are the fishing trip and with the monkey Steve. The characters are engaging still, the pacing apart from some lulls in the more dramatic moments zips along and the voice work on the whole is terrific with only Hader sounding overdone. Overall lacks the consistency of the first and not as spontaneous, you may also argue whether it was necessary to have a sequel anyway, but Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 for me was pleasant, fun and colourful, but with a fair few things that could have been better. Not among Monsters University, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Despicable Me 2 or The Croods as among the best animated features of 2013 but far better than Sir Billi, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, Planes, Justin and the Knights of Valour and Escape from Planet Earth. 6/10 Bethany Cox
