NMR: Drawing power

Here's a pair of recent animated films I've been able to catch:

Family Guy presents: Something, Something, Something Dark Side: After Family Guy's success at lampooning Star Wars with Blue Harvest, they decided to go another round, this time taking on The Empire Strikes Back. Your appreciation of this will depend solely on whether or not you enjoy the series in general. For fans of Family Guy, there's once again plenty here to laugh at. The fact that this was put on DVD instead of TV also gave them the freedom to be even more crass, but they don't go overboard. It was fun seeing who they chose to play the film's characters (Some were inspired like the Giant Chicken playing Boba Fett, but some fell flat like the rarely seen Carl playing Yoda). Most of the jokes work and some are downright brilliant (like Brian/Chewbacca's commentary on Mort/Lando wearing Han's clothes at the end of the film). A definite must for FG fans and a complete pass for everyone else. Rating: *****

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Based on a 30 page children's book, this computer animated film ends up biting off more than it can chew. While the basic premise is a lot of fun, the film ends up focusing too much on spectacle and not enough on character development. Perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh on a film that's aimed at kids, but I would have preferred had they spent more time allowing us to get to know the characters and less on an elaborate rescue mission once the machine that's causing food to rain from the sky goes haywire. What works in this film is the voice acting which includes a nice mix of comedic talent (Bill Hader and Anna Faris play the leads) along with some veteran actors (like James Caan) to give the film some credibility. I found myself laughing quite a bit (for some reason I really enjoyed the Baby Brent character, voiced by Andy Samberg). In the end, however, this is another film which shows why Pixar's films are head and shoulders above everyone else in this genre. Kids will no doubt love this film. For everyone else, you can probably give it a pass. Grade: C+