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Rating: 9/10 (26 December 2012)

Pixar is the undisputed king of the animated. According to tradition, no other studio is even able to hold a candle to the impeccably written/rendered masterpieces the Disney-affiliated atelier continues to churn out year after year. With the critical acclaim Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon has recently received, though, the previous is quickly becoming an antiquated notion. Recently, another brilliantly written (and directed) animated feature—which, for some inexplicable reason, somehow managed to drift under the radar of the popular eye—was released and serves as a great example of how the competition is heating up for the hitherto unchallenged Pixar. I present to you Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
The story follows a down-and-out inventor named Flint Lockwood. He lives with is dad and is considered "the local crackpot." Flint's hometown—which is situated on an island in the middle of the Atlantic— has fallen upon dire financial straits after its chief source of revenue (a sardine canning plant) closed its doors. Flint, however, has come up with a device that he believes will preserve the sanity of his fellow citizens, who, in addition to facing sever monetary problems, have been forced to consume the leftover sardines from the cannery. The nifty little contraption he's created converts water vapor to food. We're talking ice cream, spaghetti, pizza, chips, etc. When Flint attempts to hook his machine up to a more sufficient power source than he's afforded in his lab on stilts, things go haywire, and his food-maker is launched into the stratosphere. Before anyone knows what's happened, hamburgers begin falling from the sky. Flint soon realizes that he can broadcast a signal to his device and control the items it releases. Soon the entrepreneurial spirit of the town's mayor takes over, and greed becomes the order of the day.
I know what you're thinking: this all sounds very familiar. WALL-E tackled similar themes, and it addressed them so beautifully that it seems like Meatballs couldn't possibly be anything more than an afterthought withering in Pixar's massive shadow. Surprisingly, this is very far from the truth. Don't make the mistake of dismissing this as "more of the same": it's not. Actually, it's one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. I'm saying this as an adult male who typically finds the comedy in animated features strained and flat. Here, I laughed out loud at regular intervals. The humor is subtle, nuanced, and often nothing short of riotous (parodying everything from viral videos to blockbuster action flicks).
I don't think I can heap enough praise on the cleverly constructed story and the superbly timed comedy, so I'll drive my point home by saying that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will delight you in the most unexpected ways.
In fact, you should go watch it. Right now.