One of the biggest disappointments for me this year, behind ‘Batman v Superman’. There, it’s out there. I don’t know why, but I expected a clever, crude and thoughtful adult animation that would rival what the kiddies get. However, as I should have known with serial “sex and stoner comedies†creators Seth Rogan and Jonah Hill involved, all I got was an immature, dumb and boring film with one long joke running through it, with a few others chucked in for variety.
I’m not going to go far with this review as I’ve not much to say on the matter that I can’t sum up in a few paragraphs.
While the animation is sub-Pixar, it’s still bright and crisp. But then from directors who have worked on the likes of ‘Shrek’, ‘Madagascar’ and ‘Thomas & Friends’, you’re in good company - so you think. The one joke is that the foods and produce here are foul mouthed and eager for sex. That’s it. Sausages have sex with hot-dog buns when the two come together. That’s it. And as our two leads are said sausage and hot-dog bun, that’s their main objective pretty much.
Seth Rogan, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera...the usual suspects for this generation’s crude and loud comedy talent who, basically, just didn’t do anything for me. How many swear words and sex jokes do we need before that gag gets boring. How many times do we need jokes about the persecution of the Jews or the Middle East conflict before that gets repetitive? It’s these sort of things I found to crop up over and over again.
There are a few moments I did find clever in it’s comedy, a rare thing here in this dumb outing, but they include the brilliant ‘Saving Private Ryan’ opening homage and....er....there was another I am sure, but I’ve forgotten. Either way it wasn’t that funny hearing carrots or tomato sauce bottles swear and call each other every name under the sun. Oh - Gum was funny too for a few seconds, I’ll admit. You’ll laugh when you see his intro.
I will say that you’ll hear a lot about the ending. All 30 seconds of it that gains the most laughs out of sheer absurdity. It’ll be on YouTube soon no doubt, so wait for that rather than sit through 85mins of the same old nonsense waiting for it. That, I admit, is beyond surreal and something we’ll never see in film again. Again, yeah it’s funny because it’s so out of the blue and random, but when you see it again (if you watch it again), I’m sure it won’t have the same effect unless your banner of comedy is that low. And as expected with a Rogen film, drugs are used and hallucinations happen - maybe if you're into that in reality, this film would work stoned out your head.
From lesbian tacos to disabled chewing gum, gay twinkies to African-American crackers, all races and abilities are mocked and presented here for gross comedy. But it’s this sort of comedy I didn’t find funny. I’m 31 and was one of the only ones not laughing out loud in the cinema, but I didn’t feel bad because if this it was passes as “laugh out loud†comedy today, I’m pleased not to find it funny. I’ll stick to clever comedy instead, not lazy dumb comedy like this.
I should have known better to think this could be as witty and strong in plot as ‘Toy Story’ but for adults. How wrong I was.
Oh, and whilst I remember, another mirror between this disappointment and it’s rival ‘Batman v Superman’ for worst film of the year, ‘Ghostbusters’ can chime up too, is the villain of the piece. A total mess, ridiculous and pointless just like the film itself.
I’m not going to go far with this review as I’ve not much to say on the matter that I can’t sum up in a few paragraphs.
While the animation is sub-Pixar, it’s still bright and crisp. But then from directors who have worked on the likes of ‘Shrek’, ‘Madagascar’ and ‘Thomas & Friends’, you’re in good company - so you think. The one joke is that the foods and produce here are foul mouthed and eager for sex. That’s it. Sausages have sex with hot-dog buns when the two come together. That’s it. And as our two leads are said sausage and hot-dog bun, that’s their main objective pretty much.
Seth Rogan, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera...the usual suspects for this generation’s crude and loud comedy talent who, basically, just didn’t do anything for me. How many swear words and sex jokes do we need before that gag gets boring. How many times do we need jokes about the persecution of the Jews or the Middle East conflict before that gets repetitive? It’s these sort of things I found to crop up over and over again.
There are a few moments I did find clever in it’s comedy, a rare thing here in this dumb outing, but they include the brilliant ‘Saving Private Ryan’ opening homage and....er....there was another I am sure, but I’ve forgotten. Either way it wasn’t that funny hearing carrots or tomato sauce bottles swear and call each other every name under the sun. Oh - Gum was funny too for a few seconds, I’ll admit. You’ll laugh when you see his intro.
I will say that you’ll hear a lot about the ending. All 30 seconds of it that gains the most laughs out of sheer absurdity. It’ll be on YouTube soon no doubt, so wait for that rather than sit through 85mins of the same old nonsense waiting for it. That, I admit, is beyond surreal and something we’ll never see in film again. Again, yeah it’s funny because it’s so out of the blue and random, but when you see it again (if you watch it again), I’m sure it won’t have the same effect unless your banner of comedy is that low. And as expected with a Rogen film, drugs are used and hallucinations happen - maybe if you're into that in reality, this film would work stoned out your head.
From lesbian tacos to disabled chewing gum, gay twinkies to African-American crackers, all races and abilities are mocked and presented here for gross comedy. But it’s this sort of comedy I didn’t find funny. I’m 31 and was one of the only ones not laughing out loud in the cinema, but I didn’t feel bad because if this it was passes as “laugh out loud†comedy today, I’m pleased not to find it funny. I’ll stick to clever comedy instead, not lazy dumb comedy like this.
I should have known better to think this could be as witty and strong in plot as ‘Toy Story’ but for adults. How wrong I was.
Oh, and whilst I remember, another mirror between this disappointment and it’s rival ‘Batman v Superman’ for worst film of the year, ‘Ghostbusters’ can chime up too, is the villain of the piece. A total mess, ridiculous and pointless just like the film itself.
