Film Review- "Sausage Party"

There are moments in every filmgoer's life, when he finds himself sitting in the theater, staring up at the big silver screen. His eye's wide open like a deer in headlights, paralyzed with shock at what he's witnessing, but cannot look away. His jaw hangs open, as his hand muffles the only words that can escape his breathe, "What. The. *Bleep*"

...This is my review of Sausage Party.

Sausage Party
Directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon
Starring Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, and Nick Kroll

You know me. You know I love Disney and Pixar, but really I'm a sucker for any good animated film. For the longest time, I had wanted someone to come along and give audiences a send up of the genre. For someone to push the boundaries of the art form, and show that "animated" isn't a synonym for "kiddie". A raunchy, satirical, and adult-oriented animated film...Be careful what you wish for kids. Especially when Seth Rogen is the one granting those wishes.

Sausage Party takes place in the world of an average supermarket, where the edible inhabitants have always believed that when they are purchased, they are being chosen by the gods (humans) to leave the store and enter The Great Beyond, i.e. Their heaven.

For a sausage named Frank (Rogen) and a bun named Brenda (Wiig), entering The Great Beyond means them getting to...consummate their love. When they're chosen together, a series of unfortunate events leads Frank to question their entire existence. He goes on a quest to discover the truth about food, even if it means costing him the love of Brenda and the respect of the entire food community.

Sausage Party's greatest strength is its shock value, and my god do I mean shock. You will constantly be in awe with what you're witnessing. From the opening song to the very end you're on a roller coaster of cringe and crude humor, and at the end of that roller coaster is...you have to see it to believe it my friends...

The film's humor can basically fall into two categories: food puns, and sex jokes. This is probably not everybody's cup of tea. Personally, I was laughing quite a bit throughout. Partially because the jokes were clever and funny, mostly because I was in disbelief at the balls they had to took to make this film.

Hidden behind all this obscenity, is actually a clever story that commentates on religion, belief, and individuality. Who would of thought? Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg have proved before they can be as clever as they can be crude. Unfortunately, you might forget that when you're witnessing a lesbian taco shell voiced by Salma Hayek fight lustful urges to get it on with Kristen Wiig's bun character.

At this point, pretty much everyone in this film has already lent their voice to an animated film, and everyone does a fine job. Ironically, Frank is probably the most three-dimensional character Rogen's ever played in an animated film (That's not a pun on the CGI animation I swear.). Michael Cera does a nice job as Barry, a deformed sausage. Nick Kroll as the film's villain, plays a perfect douche...ok that one was a pun. Most of the voice cast is almost unrecognizable, from Edward Norton doing a Woody Allen impression as a bagel, Paul Rudd as the douchey dork manager of the supermarket, and James Franco as a druggie who manages to speak with the food.

Pay freaking attention during that scene. Don't do bath salts, kids...

Sausage Party is not a film for everyone. I enjoy a film like this once in awhile, but I'm going to need some time before I watch it again...like years. But it does a perfect job of satirizing the animated genre, deliver a thoughtful message, and leave a lasting impression on its audience.

Especially that last one. Christ, I won't be able to eat for weeks...