In Shopwell's supermarket, the groceries can't wait to be purchased and taken to the Great Beyond. But a warning from a returned jar of honey mustard (McBride) shakes their faith, leaving hot dog Frank (Rogen) and bun Brenda (Wiig) stranded without their packaging. On their way back to their shelf, Frank consults Native American spirit Firewater (Hader), who confirms that the Great Beyond is a myth: human gods are going to eat us. Meanwhile, just-purchased wieners Carl and Barry (Hill and Cera) witness the horror firsthand. So everyone decides to take control of their destiny.

The script is witty but not particularly clever, packing every line of dialog with both profanity and leery double entendres. So everything begins to sound rather repetitive. The ongoing dispute between bagel Sammy (Norton) and flatbread Lavash (Krumholtz) has its moments. And the villain of the piece is, literally, a douche (Kroll). There's also a rather amusingly oversexed taco (Hayek), and a couple of humans (Franco and Rudd) with the munchies.

The animation is simple and silly, which kind of matches the screenplay, with moments of explicitly animated but mostly food-based sexuality and violence. The filmmakers have a great time playing with a variety of genres, from stoner comedies to hyper-violent horror to epic battle action. The central plot about trying to traverse the store never quite makes any sense, but the various set-pieces have plenty of attitude and no end of rude one-liners, movie references and fourth-wall breaking.

With a script that makes such straightforward one-note gags, there isn't much the cast can do with the characters, but they clearly enjoy diving into the escalating craziness. Thankfully, the film is peppered with flashes of sharp wit, some likably funny characters and a few smartly pointed lines. But it's also utterly stupid, especially as it builds to a ridiculous supermarket orgy. So the only audience members who will find this movie entertaining are the ones who have already visited the alcohol aisle.

themes, language, vulgarity, innuendo, violence

25.Aug.16