When Seth Rogen and company dropped the original Sausage Party film in 2016, no one expected how explicit and controversial an animated film could be. Its raunchy and over-the-top humor, combined with its cartoonishly subversive designs, cemented it as one of the most baffling films released in modern times. While critics seemed to love the film, everyone seemed to want to put it behind them in hopes it would fade into obscurity. However, with the upcoming release of Sausage Party: Foodtopia, it looks like this franchise is here to stay despite its infamy.
Sausage Party: Foodtopia continues Frank’s (Seth Rogen) mission to claim the world for the rest of food-kind with his girlfriend Brenda (Kristen Wiig). Although he’s able to provide this utopia, a disaster wipes everything, including their hopes, away. With nothing left, the only thing Frank and his friends can do is team up with the humans they fought against in order to survive.
What seems to be carrying Foodtopia the most comes from the vocal performances of the cast. Surprisingly, Rogen and Wiig continue to have a natural knack and chemistry as Frank and Brenda. Michael Cera‘s fiery dedication as Frank’s friend, Barry, is still as fun as ever. However, Edward Norton‘s Sammy Bagel Jr. still feels very off in a way that made the character annoying. Some new additions, like Will Forte and Sam Richardson, seem to placate this issue, though the voice acting overall seems stronger than the film.
In addition to the voice acting, Foodtopia is continually consistent with its storytelling. The show follows this “problem of the day” format as the Foodies (a name that seems fitting) try to navigate the troubles that only a human could know. As such, Frank and Brenda rely on Forte’s Jack, the said human, to help them despite the trouble they caused. Though each episode has some wild conundrum caused by nature or otherwise, the overall flow and pacing of the season works well enough.
The developing underlying storylines also take precedence as time goes on. New characters, like RIchardson’s Julius, get their own uplifting through actions that seem inline with their personalities (if you look into the fine details.) Even old characters, like Sammy Bagel Jr., still have time to shine as they reel with what trauma they had from the end of the movie. However, Frank and Brenda’s relationship still takes great importance even though it does not become a big motivational factor until later in the season.
The biggest concern that comes with Sausage Party: Foodtopia comes from the over-the-top sexual humor in its writing. Out of everything this season, the most absurd moment occurs around the third episode. Having to witness what Barry does in that moment definitely made me want to question how we reached that point. Although, the humor in such scenes inevitably propels the story forward by having these characters in very insane places. Thankfully, this seems to be remedied later on, much like other aspects of the show.
Another issue that is heavily present seems to be the show’s overall visual animation style. While the visuals are a lot more polished and colorful, some of the animations on the characters feel somewhat stilted. Furthermore, some of the editing and camerawork in certain moments also felt weird as some scenes didn’t feel completely put together. Though this is not to say that Bardel Entertainment did a bad job, these processing aspects could be improved with a bit more time.
As a whole, Sausage Party: Foodtopia could have so much more on its plate if it didn’t play into the outrageous realms of comedy as it had. Its side stories provide the series with a lot of potential to help viewers engage with the show in addition to enjoying it for what it is. While there are still some certain elements that keep Foodtopia from being better than the original film, some may hope that its future seasons can follow through with those improvements.
Sausage Party: Foodtopia begins streaming on Prime Video on July 11.
