Directors: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon.
Starring: Seth Rogan, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, Salma Hayek.
Where to start! I'm going back to '96 when a certain MTV cartoon series hit the big screen, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America which seems to be the first adult (non sexually, well...) cartoon movie that was released and would be now be considered incredibly tame compared to what follows and especially with Sausage Party. Not long after, we get Trey Parker and Matt Stone's creations South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut then followed by Team America: World Police (however not animated) which certainly push the boundaries of animated entertainment; those songs! So Sausage Party isn't exactly the first, but is probably the first of this calibre of animation.
Adding to the shock is some of the people behind the film, director Greg Tiernan's catalogue is all Thomas The Tank Engine, 32 films of Thomas to be precise. He joins forces with Shrek 2 and Madagascar 3 director Conrad Vernon to make this story written by Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill and a few more other people, well, same gang that brought us This Is The End, The Interview, Pineapple Express... See the connection. Even the songs are written by Disney song-writer Alan Menken, certainly 'A Whole New World' here.
Rogan and Hill obviously voice too, rogan taking the lead as Frank the hotdog among a star studded cast, but again, the usual trolley load of Michael Cera, James Franco, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Paul Rudd and Craig Robinson. There's no Judd Apatow or Leslie Mann but their daughter Iris Apatow had a part. (Wonder if they will let her watch it!?)
All the food in the supermarket are under the illusion that beyond the doors there lies paradise and us humans are the gods that chose who gets to transcend to said paradise. And it's not just food, but other consumable items like light bulbs, alcohol and a douche, yes, a short-tempered, aggressive douche, a complete douche at that. But the story centres round our hotdog and bun friends Frank and Brenda (Kristen Wiig) while they traverse the giant supermarket meeting other products from aisle to aisle, trying to get to the truth of the great beyond.
Sounds ludicrous right? Well it is, but still an original and funny idea, the pinnacle of stoner comedy. Addressing stereotypes like the Jewish bagel and the Arabic, err, whatever he was, the Mexican tequila and the lesbian taco, that's right! Voiced by Salma Hayek. It's so wrong it's hilarious! But I can see some people not seeing the funny side, and some possibly offended.
The animation is really good, on par with what Pixar or Dreamworks produce, but it's like all those secret subliminal sex messages Disney hide in their movies exposed at feature length. It starts off really well, laugh out loud funny but then it loses momentum in the middle, however only until the 'climatic' ending. Just be sure to inform 'out-of-touch' parents not to show this to their children, just like with Watership Down, just because there's a cartoon character on the cover doesn't mean it's for kids.
"Once you see that shit, it'll fuck you up for life. Good luck! Have fun!" Said the Twinkie.
Running Time: 6
The Cast: 8
Performance: 8
Direction: 7
Story: 6
Script: 8
Creativity: 9
Soundtrack: 6
Job Description: 8
The Extra Bonus Point: 5 for being so crazy out there!
71% 7/10
