Sausage Party – Review
When movie trailers first surfaced of Sausage Party it may have caused you to do a Scooby Doo worthy double take. Did that cute sausage just wail in agony as his guts were ripped out by a human eating him? There is an exciting buzz in the animation world before any animation not aimed at the younger demographics hits our screens. Especially one that is written by a well known comedian such as Seth Rogan, and is being shown in major cinemas.
Sausage Party follows a curious sausage (voiced by Rogan), along with his band of misfit food friends (voiced by celebrities such as Kristen Wiig, Nick Kroll, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, and many more) who set out on a mission to discover what really happens in ‘The Great Beyond’. Are humans really the caring Gods they have been lead to believe or does a more sinister fate await them once they leave their supermarket shelves?
This film has moments of giggle inducing comedy and plays on our expectations of an animated feature. Crisps screaming in pain as their packaging is ripped open and their insides slowly eaten is so ridiculous that it’s hard not to laugh/cringe the first time you see it. Especially when animated in a fun-loving, ‘kid friendly’, Pixar–esque style.
It’s fantastic to see a ‘different’ type of animation making its way to the cinema. Even if it is just to prove to studios that there is an audience for it. Sausage Party grossed $33.6 million dollars in America on its opening weekend. Hopefully Sony Pictures will look at this profit and be tempted to take more risks with animated films.
Serious themes of race and prejudice are raised, as well philosophical questions about the nature of the characters very existence. These themes were unexpected and could have made for interesting twists , turns and character development. Unfortunately, sometimes it felt as if the makers of the film couldn’t seem to get past their own comedic idea that a sausage was talking. Interesting themes were touched upon, but often stereotypes and old jokes were used instead of finding a new way of getting points across. This isn’t to say it’s not funny. The puns were flowing, the silly humour was rampant and the characters were great to watch.
If you see this when you were in your teens or student years , this could have been one of the funniest things you ever watched. It is gross out comedy pushing it to the limits with graphic sex scenes (if you can call watching different produce ‘go at it’ a sex scene?) , every swear word you’d get thrown out of the classroom for saying and no holds barred approach to topics of race and discrimination.. The shock value is so big that it had people walking out of the screening. One person in particular who didn’t heed the warnings from three members of staff and took her small children into the film definitely learnt the hard way that it may look cutesy, but the film deserved its 15 rating. This particular individual was bolting for the door, kids in tow as soon as the first ‘c’ bomb was dropped.
In one way it was completely refreshing. It was great to see a film, especially an animated one , that let go and did whatever it wanted. The cinema was full and there was a whole lot of audible gasps, chuckles and outright belly laughs from the whole audience. It didn’t have the subtlety in it’s humour that South Park hits with its use of irony, and it definitely is the polar opposite of other adult based animations such as the powerful stop motion film ‘Anomalisa’, but it knew what it was and didn’t try to apologise for it.
A few may wonder if this film would have been better suited as an animated short, but the film maker did surprisingly keep the story moving and on track. You may almost wish the makers of the film had taken it a tiny bit more seriously and not gone for the easy racist jokes and swear words. Seeing a sausage talk about how he loves a bread rolls ‘tight buns’ is only funny the first few times.
The animation, modelling and rendering in this film does tend to vary from scene to scene. Some scenes were visually impressive. You could see the great care and detail that was poured into it. Then the next scene would look slightly un-finished. Overall it is extremely pretty, especially for its low budget and the fact that it was produced by a first time feature studio. Of course, it’s ‘tiny budget’ has been a source of controversy. In a recent interview with Cartoon Brew directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon answered the industry’s burning questions about the production of the film and how they stuck to their unprecedented (and estimated) $20 million dollar budget. Greg Tiernan was quoted as saying:
“We knew damn well that we could deliver a movie that looks like a $150 million movie for a fraction of the cost.”
The controversy came from a slew of un-credited and credited animators from the Canadian Nitrogen Studio (where the film was animated) commenting on the story. Claiming that conditions at the company were less than perfect. The story has been followed up by many outlets such as The Washington Post and The Hollywood Reporter who have spoken to more animators that have issues with the management at Nitrogen. Claims that the animators issued a letter to the company in December stating that “unfair pressure tactics” were “used against the team: intimidating staff into working past official studio hours, disciplinary measures utilizing fear tactics that demotivate and cause distress (such as threatening to terminate employment), implying that other departments are working overtime ‘voluntarily’ as a reason to deny compensation.”
Tiernan has been quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as saying that the animators “statements are without merit…..production adhered to all overtime regulations and…contractual obligations to…artists. Any time that any concern was brought up, it was handled appropriately.”
The controversy has tainted the film for many animators, but can these issues be seen in the film or the animation itself? The animation varies from scene to scene. A lot of it is very natural with lovely arcs and overlap. It allows you to get lost in what the characters are saying and is good enough to gross you out when they are being filthy. Other scenes do feel rushed. Scenes can sometimes feel as if animators had a lot of contradicting ideas they wanted to hit in the scene. The animation is never bad, if anything it feels like scenes are pushed to breaking point with animators squeezing in as much movement as possible. After reading the time restrictions, changes to direction and pressures animators may have been under it is understandable and even commendable that such an incredibly high level was reached. This film’s animation definitely doesn’t look out of place among the big-boys of the feature film industry. Maybe not always as subtle or thoughtful, but always entertaining and extremely passionate. It feels like every animator cared deeply about the scenes there were working on.
I did wonder while watching how the animators got some of those film references? Since I imagine having to animate a threesome between vegetables isn’t something you animate every day. Unfortunately the answer seems to be ‘while under stress and fear of getting fired’.
Would we recommend it? This is a hard question. Was it enjoyable? Yes. Was the story interesting if very filthy and silly? Yes. Was it sometimes very obvious with its jokes and clumsy in its approach; most certainly. It’s not one to watch with the grandparents, but if you and a few ‘pun loving’ friends want to watch a dippy, absurd and lively film then this will hit the spot. Sometimes it’s good to see a film that makes you feel like a teenager again.
Sausage Party is In UK cinemas from Friday 2nd September 2016.