This Friday, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 -- an animated sequel to the 2009 animated film of the same name (sans the "2") -- will be playing at a movie theater somewhere near your home. Does the film live up to its predecessor? Here, as always, we answer every question that you could possibly have about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.
Q: Does Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 have anything to do with the book, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs?
A: The first film was loosely based on the book. The second film has nothing to do with the book.
Q: Did the same team that made the first movie make this one, too?
A: Not really. The first Cloudy was written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who have gone on to make 21 Jump Street and the upcoming The Lego Movie. Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn direct this sequel.
Q: What's the biggest difference in their directing styles?
A: Cameron and Pearn really enjoy food puns. Like, "a piece of cake," then a cake appears. Or, "there's a leek in the boat," but it's not the "leak" that you thought it was going to be. Anyway, you get the point.
Q: If I enjoy food puns, will I enjoy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2?
A: It will be your favorite movie.
Q: Better than BurgerTime?
A: BurgerTime is a classic arcade game from 1982, not a movie.
Q: Is Peter Pepper the main character in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2?
A: Peter Pepper is the protagonist in BurgerTime and has nothing to do with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. The film's protagonist is Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader).
Q: Who is Flint Lockwood?
A: Flint Lockwood is an inventor who, in the first movie, created the Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator, which turned water into food. Unfortunately, the machine goes haywire and destroys most of the town of Swallow Falls.
Q: What is Flint Lockwood doing now?
A: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 picks up right after the first movie ends. The food machine is seemingly under control, but Swallow Falls is still a mess.
Q: Is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 about disaster cleanup?
A: Sort of. An eccentric tech maven named Chester V (Will Forte) spearheads the cleanup effort and also woos Flint to work for his company, Live Corp.
Q: Is Live Corp supposed to be a stand in for Apple?
A: In terms of people's undivided devotion to a company: probably. (But probably not the part where Live Corp's CEO turns out to be evil.)
Q: How soon do we learn Live Corp is evil?
A: We find this out very early in the movie. Chester V recruits Flint to return to Swallow Falls in an effort to clean up the city. When Flint returns, he discovers that his Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator is still working and it's creating living food creatures called "foodimals."
Q: What is a "foodimal"?
A: A "foodimal" is an animal-food hybrid.
Q: What is an example of a "foodimal"?
A: There's a crocodile taco type fellow named "Tacodile Supreme."
Q: Sigh.
A: I swear that it's more fun than it sounds.
Q: How many fart jokes are in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2?
A: One.
Q: Does it involve a food pun relating to cutting cheese?
A: Of course.
Q: Does Flint go back to Swallow Falls alone?
A: No. He brings pretty much the whole gang from the first movie -- Sam (Anna Faris), his dad (James Caan), Brent (Andy Samberg), Steve the Monkey (Neil Patrick Harris), Manny (Benjamin Bratt) and Officer Devereaux (Terry Crews, replacing Mr. T) -- back to the Swallow Falls island.
Q: Who does James Badge Dale play in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2?
A: Though James Badge Dale is in most movies this year, he's not in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. (At least I don't think he is...)
Q: The whole gang explores the island?
A: Well, Tim's dad stays behind on the boat to fish with his new pickle friends.
Q: Don't you mean "fickle"?
A: No, they are living pickles with personalities.
Q: If I liked the first Cloudy, will I like this one?
A: If you enjoyed the first movie, there's really no way that you won't enjoy this installment. Though, it's not quite as good as the first one.
Q: How is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 not as good as the first movie?
A: The sense of ecstatic wonderment from the first movie is gone. Our heroes are (at least at first) quite terrified at what they've created. Plus, there's a lot crammed into this movie.
Q: As in the plot?
A: Actually, no, the plot is fairly simple. It's more that every frame of this movie has a lot going on. Even in the slower moments when one character is only trying to communicate to another character, something zany has to be going on in the background.
Q: Will Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 make me hungry?
A: Not really. If anything, it might suppress your appetite because the food in this movie is (A) alive and (B) cute.
Q: On a scale of one to ten, how happy are you not to be writing about internet pornography right now?
A: Eight.
Mike Ryan is senior writer for Huffington Post Entertainment. You can contact him directly on Twitter.
