Sausage Party: Foodtopia is Messy but Has its Moments

By Redmanwriter on July 18, 2024

Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer

I'll open this review with a famous movie quote that pretty much sums up my viewing of Sausage Party: Foodtopia:

"I know you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" – 10 Things I Hate about You.

Welcome to Gastric Park!

In 2016 Seth Rogen and company wrote and produced an animated movie called Sausage Party and it was exactly the sort of animated movie you would expect from the team behind films like Pineapple Express and Zach and Miri Make a Porno.

While divisive amongst viewers and critics alike (personally I thought it was hilarious but admittedly my sense of humour is not what I would call "refined") the movie still managed to be a financial success, grossing over $140 million worldwide on a budget of $19 million. Successful or not though, I was surprised, not that they continued the story, but that they chose to do so as a television show instead of a movie sequel. Which brings us to the latest in a line of raunchy adult animation released for streaming on Amazon Prime, Sausage Part: Foodtopia.

Your design is terrible. Absolutely terrible

Seth returns as the voice of Frank Frankfurter, or Frank to his friends, having successfully defeated the humans (or "who-man" as they call them) with the help of his girlfriend Brenda the Bun (Kirsten Wiig) and his best friend Barry (Michael Cera) along with all the other Foods of the supermarket. Everyone's excited to be free to do whatever they choose in the big open world. But we all know creating civilisation is never that easy, especially so when you have zero knowledge of how the world works. Suffering destruction from the effects of rain and wild animals, the Food look to Frank and Brenda for answers, answers they are forced to get from the only surviving human at their disposal, the very unlucky Jack (Will Forte). While Frank and Brenda are busy trying to come up with a plan to make their world perfect, an orange named Julius (Orange Julius being a parody of Donald Trump and voiced by Sam Richardson) decides to take advantage of the new world and creates a society not unlike ours, one that pits the haves against the have-nots.

I won't spend much time talking about the animation which, like a lot of shows in this style, suffers issues due to having a smaller budget. I'll just say it's fine for what it is. Now where the movie's focus was on religion and faith, the series takes a whack at politics and the wealth gap (with a little racial divide thrown in for good measure). While I get what they were going for, leaning too much into these topics sucked a lot of fun out of a story built around a ridiculous premise that should've and could've been a laugh riot.

Orange you glad I came. Get it? You get it

Most of the jokes here are found in quick puns and one-off dialogue that come and go fast, too fast to truly marinate in (let the food puns commence!). And while the ingredients are there for a tasty satirical look at society – similarly to the earlier seasons of Netflix's Big Mouth and their take on puberty – the heavy focus on the darker aspects of the story made this nine-course meal blander than two-week-old leftovers. Okay, I'll stop now.

It's not a total loss though as Foodtopia doesn't completely lose sight of why fans of the movie would tune into this show, and it does deliver a few over-the-top moments. One in particular that I won't spoil here but I will warn you, it's unlike anything you've ever seen before, and you'll want to ensure (depending on your situation) your parents/kids/priest is nowhere near your television while it's unfolding. It's seared into my brain now as one of those things I can never unsee. But like a traffic accident I couldn't look away from and, forgive my adolescent humour, could not stop laughing at.

Now it's a party!

I won't call this a winner, but I also wouldn't mind it if there's a second season, if just to see what comes next after what was arguably a messy first season that starts off pretty decent, struggles like hell in the middle and ended with an intriguing conclusion.

Sommer's Score: 6 out of 10

And you can check out more adult animated comedy content below:

Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I'll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More