Niffiwan

There's nothing wrong with the animation, art design or production values of this animated feature. Nothing wrong with the arc of the main story either (structurally or morally), or with the voice acting.

The reason I couldn't really get into it is that nobody acts like a real person; all the characters act like Hollywood stereotypes imagined by someone who doesn't actually have friends. It never feels like a single character in the film is actually real or has a soul, so it's hard to care about what's going on, aside from admiring it in the sense one might admire a roller coaster ride. A few days before I saw this, I watched the animated "A Christmas Carol" which came out the same year, and it is a great contrast; I could actually believe that the people in "Christmas Carol" were real and care about what happened to them, despite the ridiculous roller-coaster action sequences (which both films have).

The other thing which bugged me is that nobody in "Meatballs" has to work hard to make something they want happen; they just have to really want it and then suddenly they can easily do it. Inventor builds multi-million dollar lab and inventions effortlessly (the complete polar opposite of what actual work in science is like). Fat guy (near the end) suddenly becomes martial arts master just because he really, really wants to and the plot requires it.

It gives the wrong lesson about the value of work and discipline (namely, that one doesn't need them, that just to have a good idea is enough), but the primary fault is that it just made it hard for me to care about what was going on in the movie, particularly as none of the characters even felt relatable in the first place.

I just saw this at the WFAC. I must say that I wasn't expecting much out of this film. It's a good thing that I went to see it anyway, because it turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival. The closest equivalent to what "Sita Sings the Blues" was last year; though the two films are in many ways quite different, they share between them a wacky sense of humour and a refreshing inventiveness. The story of the film is insane and has to be seen to be believed. This is the kind of story that, as a kid, you wished existed somewhere. It starts out with a cowboy and an Indian accidentally ordering 50 million bricks for the birthday of their roommate, Horse, and goes from there to a visit with the Atlanteans, the centre of the earth, and giant robotic penguins.

The animation in the film is just as entertaining. I'm sure that some would call it crude, but the fact remains that it's very expressive and perfectly suited to this story and these characters. The French-language voice acting is also great.

The film has no great moral or lesson to teach us, but I think it is no less of an achievement to make something that's genuinely funny. The only thing I thought a bit strange was that it seems to go on for a little longer than it felt the natural ending point of the story should be.

This film is in the running for the animated feature Oscar this year, but probably won't be nominated; it's too low-profile and somehow I think that the animation style could offend some of the Academy professionals. But who cares about what the Academy folks think? If you want to watch something fun (even better if it's with friends), I'd highly recommend it.