Sausage Party (2016) [Blu-ray]
Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

Sausage Party, the first R-rated CG animated movie, is about one sausage leading a group of supermarket products on a quest to discover the truth about their existence and what really happens when they become chosen to leave the grocery store.

Storyline: The products at Shopwell's Grocery Store are made to believe a code that helps them live happy lives until it's time for them to leave the comfort of the supermarket and head for the great beyond. However, after a botched trip to the great beyond leaves one sausage named Frank and his companion Bun stranded, Frank goes to great lengths (pun intended) to return to his package and make another trip to the great beyond. But as Frank's journey takes him from one end of the supermarket to the other, Frank's quest to discover the truth about his existence as a sausage turns incredibly dark. Can he expose the truth to the rest of the supermarket and get his fellow products to rebel against their human masters? Written by halo1k

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, November 11, 2016 If one were to hear about the core concepts behind Sausage Party and play a guessing game about which current Hollywood celebrities would be the creative minds behind it, Seth Rogen's and Even Goldberg's names would be near the top of a fairly short list, along with Matt Parker and Trey Stone. The film, conceived in part by Rogen and Goldberg and Directed by the tandem of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, is a hard-R-rated adventure of food, the afterlife, truths, lies, sex, vulgarity, everything, basically, one would expect from a movie from the minds of Rogen and Goldberg, but with animated foods and all of the innuendoes, puns, and jokes one can imagine, and maybe even a few more they don't (the movie surprisingly doesn't delve all that deeply into human digestion and waste). Still, it's an interesting concept and executed fairly well at its most fundamentally crude level, assuming the audience can break through the movie's unflinching coarseness and go with the flow.

Frank (voiced by Seth Rogen) is a supermarket hot dog living in a pack with seven of his closest -- literally and figuratively -- friends. He's in love with a bun named Brenda (voiced by Kristen Wiig) and the two dream of one day escaping their packages and coming together as only a wiener and a bun can. And they believe that day is tomorrow. It's the annual "red, white, and blue" day when their kind is always plucked from the shelf, or "chosen" to go to "the great beyond," the brightly-lit paradise that they've been told exists beyond the supermarket's walls. They, and all of their food friends, live for the day, but when a Honey Mustard is returned to the store, it shares a tale of great horror about what really lies beyond. Most of the food shrugs it off, but when HM kills himself on the way out of the store, the food begin to worry and fall into a panic. Frank and Brenda escape in the chaos, but most of their friends are not so lucky. As Frank and Brenda navigate the store and the truth, their relationship threatens to crumble as all of the food comes to realize the reality of what fate holds for them.

Though the movie cherishes every opportunity to play with sexual innuendo -- overtly and covertly, but never shyly -- it's in its core themes that it finds its most interesting story drivers and concepts. At the center of the movie is a commentary on faith, a belief in the unknown, the hope that there's a better life out there beyond the confines of what is presented in the world. For the foods, their life is one of anticipation, eagerly awaiting exit from the limits of the store and the greater freedoms and happiness that await them in "the great beyond," which is whatever exists beyond the four walls and roof of the supermarket. Of course, they come to realize that being selected isn't all that, that pain and punishment and ugly, hideous death and torture await on the other side. Essentially, there is no "heaven," only "hell," or, at the very least, "heaven" is only what they have and can create for themselves (i.e. sex and orgies). The film also plays with a few other interesting concepts -- the clarity narcotics provide for one, though describing a couple others would be to spoil some of the movie's surprises -- but it's in its challenge of faith that plays central to the story.

Thematically and story-wise, there's simply not going to be much of a middle ground for Sausage Party. The love-or-hate response is going to drive reaction to the film more than most others. But looking at it beyond its superficialities, from a more critical rather than straight entertainment perspective does yield something of a mixed bag. On the plus side, there's no denying the movie's, um, cajones. It's confident, unafraid, and willing to always go the extra mile to make the most of every joke and scenario. The voice cast is endlessly enthusiastic from the top-down. No question that they get it, from the base humor to the wider-scope details around it. But that's where the movie falls apart. It works as sheer vulgar entertainment, and it most certainly works because it's new and interesting -- which is always welcome in whatever form or fashion it arrives -- but not because it has much to say. Sure it plays heavily on exploring religion in its own way, but it never has all that much substance at its disposal. The movie smartly works in that overreaching theme to hold it together, to prevent it from being more than an overextended short film concept experience, but thematically it's rather empty beyond that one-note force behind it. That said, it's well paced and engaging for its novelty and enthusiasm. It's no Pixar film in terms of depth, but for the most part it hits its notes with gusto.

Sausage Party isn't a "middle America" movie. It's crude and vulgar and shapes an opinion that challenges the fundamental concepts of faith and fate. It's well done, though. It's certainly entertaining in its own right, given that the audience can accept it on its face rather than challenge its viewpoints. Nicely animated, clever in its construction, well voiced, and hitting most of its jokes, it's very good at what it does, but as with pretty much everything else these days, opinions are bound to be sharply divided. Sony's Blu-ray release features good video and lossless audio. Supplements are a bit thinner than one would anticipate, but the content that's here is fine. Fans can buy with confidence, while those who believe they'd be offended by it would be well served to follow their instincts and stay away.

[CSW] -2.8- Inappropriate? Yes. Crude? Of course. Funny? It had its' moments. It would have been a lot funnier if I had a couple of drinks first. This is better watched when you are not completely sober. You need something to loosen you up first. If I ever have the occasion to get stoned first I wouldn't mind watching this again. It's not for everyone, and it's especially NOT for kids. Worth a watch for the novelty of it and some of the performances.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box


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