Sausage Party: Foodtopia Season One Review

When it comes to offensive animation, 2016’s Sausage Party takes the cake (pun intended). The feature about various talking anthropomorphic food may have pulled audiences in with cutesy characters partaking in wholesome hijinks, at least on paper, but the final product would end up everything but and something definitely not for children. An interesting outlet for raunch, plenty of foul language, and general outrageousness, the contemplative comedy saw the foods learn to become self-aware before staging an uprising against their so-called oppressors. And we all know what happened after that. Though its sense of humor was certainly not for everyone back then, it had all the makings to achieve cult status. Perhaps it was this that drove the creation of a sequel series, Sausage Party: Foodtopia. Other than the fact that this is a series instead of a feature film, viewers can expect much of the same. However, the original film, clocking in at just under 90-minutes, it got what it had to get done without wearing out its welcome. That being said, the series runs for over double that through its 8 episodes. Therefore, the challenge is trying to replicate a similar experience over a longer period of time without it running out its welcome.

For the most part, the transition of the Sausage Party franchise from film to television with Foodtopia was a seamless one. Now 8 years later, the level of animation has only improved over that time, delivering brighter and crisper characters and environments though it doesn’t matter if the series doesn’t do enough with them. Leaning heavily on food puns for its humor, expect the series to do much of the same. Becoming self-aware and taking their own lives back, Foodtopia was about that next step. The crumbling grocery store for which they called home would could not be their refuge forever so Frank (Seth Rogen), Brenda (Kristen Wiig), Barry (Michael Cera), Sammy (Edward Norton), and the rest of the surviving food had to learn to fend for themselves in the outside world. Suffice it to say that this proved to be a challenge in and of itself, once the thousands of added variables that it presents came into play. Not equipped to deal with the elements or predators, the food found each other at an ideological impasse. Needing some sort of guidance, the team decided to turn to a human, finding a prototypical stoner named Jack (Will Forte).

Coming off the heels of their recent uprising, the position of the food, as it relates to humans, was still a contentious one. Barry, especially, just couldn’t shake off the tides of war and remained combative, leading the charge against humans. Frank and Brenda, choosing to keep him alive against the wishes of much of their community, turned to Jack for his basic knowledge of the human world. Using bath salts to facilitate a constant stream of communication, that dynamic was fun to watch despite the utter ridiculousness of it. Trying to establish a utopia (or foodtopia), an idyllic world where food could live together in harmony, Frank and Brenda saw that plan in jeopardy once reality set in and the rest of the food were really in it for themselves. Over time, that perfect community they had dreamed of continued to erode as socio-economic lines were being drawn between the haves and the have-nots. Meanwhile, as their community divided, it looked to drive a wedge between Frank and Brenda’s seemingly united front as they disagreed on how to fix it. All in all, the idea of playing the evolving parallels between the food world and the human world viewed through the lens of talking food for laugh had a decent amount of mileage but it does start to get old near the end.

In the end, what truly set Foodtopia over the edge was the introduction of money, a major corrupting force for anyone and anything in its path. In this case, human teeth became that currency and its allure was irresistible to all the food but one particular piece of food took it to another level. Julius (Sam Richardson), an orange, was obsessed with teeth and collecting as many teeth as possible. As his fortune grew, so did his power. Grabbing a foothold of just about every facet of Foodtopia, his position was something he was unwilling to give up. Focused on maintaining that status quo and growing that power, a reeling Frank and Brenda were his competition though they would have to become a united front once again if they were to stand a chance. Looking to challenge that status quo and recapture the hearts of the other food to pull them back towards their cause, Julius’ power and influence made that task next to impossible as the reveal of the source of his obsession and disdain was in line with the ridiculousness of everything else. As far as a potential season 2 is concerned, while the season ends on a hopeful note, there is room for inevitable drama to help stir things up. However, there are only so many times that the same formula can be thrown back at viewers.

The writing may be hit or miss, and the humor not for everyone, but what makes it work is the best part of Sausage Party: Foodtopia, the performances. Bringing back the same cast from the original film, it also features some new additions that all fit in nicely amongst the ridiculousness. Rogen, Wiig, Cera, Norton, and Sam Richardson all deliver strong performances but the standouts were easily Cera and Norton as Barry and Sammy. Cera’s different energy as the rambunctious Barry and his constant state of combativeness at all times made him a scene stealer more often than not as he took his job that much more seriously than everyone else, going from a soldier to a police officer of sorts. Norton and his obvious Woody Allen impression, as Sammy, is hilarious without ever having to do anything but his search for purpose was a fun one to watch.

At the end of the day, Sausage Party: Foodtopia is a sequel offering literally more of the same, for better or worse. Despite some strong moments and performances, it simply fails to justify itself, let alone as a series.

still courtesy of Prime Video

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.