When watching Seth Rogen’s new movie, one may be reminded of that famous 1962 episode of “The Twilight Zone” entitled “To Serve Man” where benevolent god-like beings are not all they appear to be. In other words, “IT’S A COOKBOOK!!!”
“Sausage Party” is a genuinely hilarious riff on that episode as much as it is a giant, cursing, pot-smoking, sex-filled and star-studded subversion of wholesome Disney/Pixar animation that is an undeniable part of mainstream America. The catchy R-rated theme song, co-written by mainstay Disney composer Alan Menken, gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “be our guest.”
That’s not even mentioning the film’s unexpected metaphysical commentary on religion and one’s place in the universe. It’s the kind of movie my parents would go out to see when I was younger (like “Team America: World Police”) and would never, under any circumstances, let me watch at home whenever it came on cable. It’s also the kind of movie that will have you asking, “What in the actual f— did I just see?” Imagine “Toy Story” tripping on bath salts.
At this point in their careers, Rogen and his childhood best friend and longtime second-in-command, Evan Goldberg, can just about do whatever they want; for “Sausage Party” they’re like two foul-mouthed kids in a grocery store. No, literally, the movie is about a supermarket full of anthropomorphic food products whose sole goal in life is to be taken by the “Gods” (us, animated a little too realistically in all our disgusting biological shortcomings) to the “Great Beyond” (our kitchens and, by extension, our stomachs). Set on a Fourth of July weekend, the plot revolves around the entire grocery store getting a rude awakening to the real fate of food when it passes through those automatic sliding doors.
In particular, we follow the power couple of a hot dog named Frank (voiced by Rogen) and a hot dog bun named Brenda (voiced by Kristen Wiig) who are anticipating the moment they can finally have sex. However, the two have differing world views on their beloved “Gods.” Brenda is willing to accept their greatness without question while Frank yearns for actual proof, especially after Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) commits suicide upon seeing what humans really do with their food. And the movie only gets more bizarre from there, folks! For instance, the main antagonist — besides all humans — is a real douchebag in that he is an actual and maniacal bag of douche, voiced to pinpoint frat guy and Jersey Shore accurately by Nick Kroll.
When they get separated from their shopping cart, a ragtag gang of diverse food-stuffs go on an absurd adventure to get back to their own respective aisles. Standouts are Sammy Bagel Jr., a Jewish stereotype voiced by Edward Norton doing a commendable Woody Allen impression, Kareem Abdul Lavash, an Achmed the Dead Terrorist type who talks about the seventy bottles of extra virgin olive oil waiting for him in the Great Beyond, voiced by David Krumholtz and Teresa del Taco, a sexually confused taco voiced by Salma Hayek. With the additional A-list voices of Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Craig Robinson, James Franco, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd, how can you go wrong?
From here, the jokes (and food puns) come fast and furious; they’re crass, rude, stereotypical, inappropriate and downright offensive, all garnished with F-bombs, S-bombs and, yes, even dreaded C-bombs! They’re also funny as all hell. “Sausage Party” is not ashamed to wear its hard R-rating on its sleeve. Unlike Disney, there are no hidden Pizza Planet trucks and the like. Instead, there are large bumper stickers that read ‘Dixar,’ graphic scenes of food (and human) murder, lewd sexual food-on-food orgies, liberal drug abuse and declarations of the sauerkraut to “exterminate ze juice.”
It’s not just the raunchiest animated movie you’ll ever see, it’s one of the raunchiest movies you’ll ever see period. Like 2014’s “The Lego Movie,” “Sausage Party” is a highly innovative, self-aware film that pushes the boundaries on how computer animation can be used to tell a story for both kids and adults. Well, maybe — no, definitely — not for kids.