Sausage Party: Foodtopia Review: Fiercely Funny, Pun-Filled Filth Is Fantastic And Fulfilling

Back in 2016, "Sausage Party" gave the "Toy Story" treatment to everyday food, but instead of being a family friendly adventure full of wonder, it was a raunchy romp full of grotesque groceries, violent victuals, and cuisine coitus. Directing duo Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, along with writers Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg and Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir, told the story of an ensemble of foods — such as Frank the hot dog (Seth Rogen), Brenda the bun (Kristen Wiig), Barry the deformed wiener (Michael Cera), Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton), Kareem Abdul Lavash (David Krumholtz), and more who come to realize that when they're bought from the Shopwell's grocery store, they're not being taken to some kind of glorious afterlife. Instead, they're brutally prepared, served, and consumed by the gods they've hoped to be grabbed by: hungry human beings.

By the end of the outrageously hilarious "Sausage Party," thanks to the magic of bath salts, humans became aware of the sentience of foods, and an all-out war between people and food broke out in the store. It didn't turn out very well for homosapiens, leaving the food to celebrate with a wild orgy where everyone was eaten and stuffed, just not by people this time. This is where the Prime Video animated series "Sausage Party: Foodtopia" picks up, rather than following up on the portal thread that would have brought the food into the real world.

Comically quickly, after a battle ensues with bread forming a path of yeast resistance and cupcakes launching Operation Dessert Storm (this is just the tip of a pun-filled iceberg) food becomes the dominant species on Earth, leaving humans (or "humies") at the mercy of the nourishing overlords they used to munch on. At the dawn of this new era are Frank, Brenda, Barry, and Sammy, though the latter is still mourning the death of his surprising lover Kareem, who was impaled by forks in the "Sausage Party" movie. What follows is an eight-episode series that finds the four friends figuring out how to establish a Foodtopia civilization that benefits everyone. But not all foods are so keen on equality and harmony.

The glorious paradise of Foodtopia is short-lived when a torrential downpour turned flood kills dozens of foods, leaving Barry and his friends to wonder how they can navigate a world that they still don't have a firm grasp on. Their solution is to find a human who is still alive (voiced by Will Forte), hold him hostage, and force him to impart as much knowledge as possible to help them survive. 

Meanwhile, an orange named Julius (Sam Richardson) turns the delicate aftermath of this tragedy into an opportunity. Julius starts to use human teeth as a currency, seen as a symbol of overcoming the oppression of the humies, and he creates a capitalist system where he takes over an industrial refrigerator and charges teeth in order for perishable food to be able to use it. This is just the beginning of the ongoing struggle between Barry, Brenda, Barry, Sammy, and Julius as they bicker about the best way to run Foodtopia. 

While the original "Sausage Party" did offer a satirical skewering of religion, race, and class, "Foodtopia" feels like it's taking things a step further by highlighting the inconsistencies that come with a capitalist society. It's not exciting biting or even innovative commentary, but it's enough to add a little bit of substance alongside the barrage of food puns and dirty comedy. It certainly helps even things out when there's so much primitive naughtiness on display. But that's not the only step up for "Foodtopia" as an animated series.

First of all, having eight episodes that each run a little over 20 minutes allows a little more room to play with various concepts. Sammy Bagel Jr. enjoys a foray into stand-up comedy with even more pun-tastic punchlines. Barry wants to throw a music festival like Burning Man, complete with bands like the Talking Breads (including covers of famous songs that are also filled with food references and wordplay), and let's say some kind of bonus attraction that can be gleaned from the name of the festival. Meanwhile, a nearby crow makes for a new non-human threat.

But the primary driving force is the establishment of Foodtopia, which eventually leads to a run-off for leadership that pits Frank and Brenda against Julius, almost in a "Gangs of New York" kind of set-up. Throughout this fight, there are also plenty of gruesome food deaths that are squishy, goopy, and just plain gnarly. It's the same kind of food violence that made the movie such a grotesque treat, but the series dials it up even further. For example, an entire family of eggs meets their demise, parents and children, after one of them cracks, causing all of the others to slip in raw egg and bust themselves open in a runny mess. That's not even the worst food tragedy.

Oh, and lest you think that "Foodtopia" didn't need to dig back into the excessive and gratuitous comestible copulation that made the ending of "Sausage Party" such a shockingly hilarious and dirty conclusion, the first episode offers up yet another orgy. However, unlike the movie, this is not as gross or weird as the meal mating gets. The show's sixth episode showcases an act so weird and depraved that it features a warning that says, "We are proud to announce that this episode contains a scene so graphic that Amazon asked that we issue a warning. This is that warning. You've been warned."

As for the animation, the quality mostly on par with the original. While I wouldn't exactly call it aesthetically pleasing, it does seem to be a bit more colorful and vibrant. There does appear to be more complex textures glimpsed throughout, but there's something about the overall animation that still feels a bit cheap, even jittery, though that last descriptor could have been an intentional choice to give it a somewhat stop-motion animation feel. Just don't go into "Foodtopia" expecting to be wowed by the properties of animated water or pores on a human's skin. Though you will be treated to some nasty nipples, gross hair, and even an animated scrotum or two. Maybe "treated" is the wrong word here, but in "Foodtopia," every little hideous tidbit might as well be a disgusting treat. Conrad Vernon, who directs the whole series, and the animators certainly do the best they can with the tools and budget at their disposal.

But of course, what makes "Sausage Party: Foodtopia" is the brazen sense of humor on display. You'll be simultaneously shocked and impressed by some of the things that Edward Norton was convinced to say as Sammy Bagel Jr. This is an Oscar-nominated actor (and notorious Marvel Studios star) spouting off things like, "F**k me senseless. Literally f**k me until I can't think or feel anymore," and that's not even among the strangest dialogue in the series. (I'm also fairly certain Norton lends his voice to another character, a wrinkly, documentarian hot dog named Wiener, pronounced "Vee-ner," and I'm sure his last name is probably Herzog).

Believe me when I say that "Sausage Party: Foodtopia" has plenty of surprises, both in the absurd, filthy comedy and the repulsive and shocking turns in the story. Yes, it can and does get weirder than an angry sentient douche controlling a human by way of the testicles, as we saw in the first movie, something that carries over into the series as well. 

"Sausage Party: Foodtopia" offers more of the same while also elevating things just enough to make this eight-course meal feel refreshing and hilarious all over again. 

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10

All eight episodes of "Sausage Party: Foodtopia" stream on Prime Video starting on July 11, 2024.