The minds behind Superbad, Pineapple Express and This is the End – Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg – rise to the occasion to roll out a profanity-laden adult comedy animation.
This near-the-knuckle (sometimes bordering on tasteless) supermarket-based adventure maybe isn’t quite the sensation the Hollywood hype-machine purported it to be – mainly due to it ultimately being a ‘one trick sausage’ – but always deserves immense credit for being to computer-generated animation what Deadpool was to the superhero genre earlier this year.
And that’s taking adult-demographic risks that film execs don’t usually ‘green light’.
The food products at Shopwell’s Grocery Store are made to believe a ‘code’ that makes them live happily until it’s time to leave the comfort of the supermarket and head for the heavenly place known as ‘the great beyond’ when they are purchased.
But when the frenetic Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) gets returned to the store, he puts the kybosh on this seemingly idyllic life outside of the four walls, by claiming they get consumed after they leave – and sausage Frank (Seth Rogen) is one of the few willing to swallow his story.
So when he gets misplaced from his sausage-packed friends, including deformed Barry (Michael Cera) and super-optimistic Carl (Jonah Hill), and ends up on the shop floor with hot dog bun girlfriend Brenda (Kristen Wiig) – who hope to cement their relationship by combining their products very soon – bagel Sammy (Edward Norton) and Middle Eastern lavash Kareem (David Krumholtz), they embark on an existential adventure through the aisles to discover the real reason for their existence.
Along the way they meet colourful characters such as Bill Hader’s Native American liquor Firewater (leader of the non-perishables), Salma Hayek’s lesbian Taco Teresa, and humans in the form of Paul Rudd’s store manager and James Franco’s junkie drug addict – all while Frank and Brenda are being pursued by psychotic female hygiene product, Douche (Nick Kroll), seeking revenge for his nozzle being inadvertently broken by the duo.
The movie meanders intermittently between comedic sequences that vary from ‘wide of the mark’, mildly funny and offensively hilarious – but fortunately it usually ends up as the latter as it squirts out it’s fair share of stellar moments.
See fantastic character, music and movie references such as Sammy Bagel Jr, Meat Loaf and Saving Private Ryan – along with a truly humorous pornography-inspired ending montage that can’t help put a smile on your face through the crudeness.
And in the end that is what this party is all about. It’s generally lewd, crude, offensive, and chock full of sexual innuendo and drug references, but hits more than it misses, so if you’re not open minded or feint of heart, then give it a wide berth.
If you enter the messed up world of Seth Rogen and co though – you’ll never look at a Ye Olde Oak sausage the same again.
VOICE CAST: SETH ROGEN, KRISTEN WIIG, MICHAEL CERA, NICK KROLL, PAUL RUDD, JONAH HILL, EDWARD NORTON, SALMA HAYEK, JAMES FRANCO, BILL HADER, DANNY McBRIDE, CRAIG ROBINSON, DAVID KRUMHOLTZ, ANDERS HOLM & MEAT LOAF
RUNNING TIME: 1 HR 29 MINS
DIRECTORS: GREG TIERNAN & CONRAD VERNON
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Gavin Miller
Visit www.showcasecinemas.co.uk for the latest up-to-date showtimes for movies at Peterborough Showcase. You can also join the chat on Twitter @showcasecinemas or on Facebook by searching for ‘Showcase Cinemas UK’.
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