Movie Review

Did Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs scare anyone else????

Dade, Matia & I had a movie night. We had all seen parts of this movie, but we had never sat down to watch the whole thing. The first time I put part of it on for the kids Dade started crying and begged me to turn it off, Matia was engrossed though, so I figured how scary could it be.

Well, it's not really THAT scary, but I see where kids can be daunted by the whole thing. I saw references to many of the "end of the world" and action packed "thiller" movies that would help this cartoon appeal to the adult audience, but could really be scary to kids who don't get the parody that is being presented. Independence Day, Matrix, Armageddon,and a few others were well represented.

Now that we've watched it I'd say my kids are to young for this movie. They were caught up in the chaotic spectacle, and they did like the idea of it snowing ice cream, but beyond that they couldn't really relate to the story or the characters. The moral themes of "be yourself, be unique" and "too much of a good thing is a bad thing" were probably lost on my kids. Of course they are going to be themselves, who else would they be? They might relate to the "Too Much" theme if I talked to them about their toys, they live that dilemma to be certain, but I think the gluttony emphasis is pretty much lost on them a this age. Also the love interest, and liking some one as more than a friend is not a concept that 3 & 4 year olds grasp, nor should they IMO. I thought it would have been ok for the characters to like each other and be friends and just leave it at that. A little less smooching or attempted smooching please! I think there would be some good discussion there for a 6 or 7 year old, and they might appreciate more of the humor. I definitely appreciated it more than my kids, but I'm not anxious to watch it again. This is not a movie that I will put on over and over for the kids, and I doubt they will ask for it. I would be interested in reading the book that it is based on. I get the impression that it is nothing like the movie, and I'd be interested to find out the morale emphasis in the book, and compare it with "Hollywood's" interpretation. It might be fun to do a theme day and make some of the food to go with the story. Ok, now I'm getting ahead of myself.

Anyone have any other kids movies picks that we should try out? I'm really enjoying the cuddle time and the popcorn that goes along with a movie night, nothing beats it. Some of our favorites are Up, Happy Feet, Surfs Up (not my fav, but Dade loves it), Alvin & the Chipmunks (animated film), and Monster's Inc. Help us add to our collection