R-rated animated films are a pretty rare sight. Either they get piled up with direct-to-video trash or they happen to be part of a well-established franchise such as "South Park" or "ATHF". "Sausage Party" managed to surprise everyone, both by how vulgar it gets and how successful it was as an original R-rated animated film, still carrying the record of being the highest-grossing film of its kind. The food found in Shopwell's all have a varied yet collective dream, which is to be chosen by their human gods and taken to the Great Beyond. Unaware of what really happens to food outside of the store, a freak accident causes an assortment of characters to be thrown off their carts thanks to a suicidal honey mustard. A sausage named Frank wants to discover why the honey mustard killed himself following his return from the Great Beyond and pulls his girlfriend, Brenda, along with a bagel and lavash to discover the truth about the Great Beyond. The "Toy Story"-sounding premise is actually more than it seems as the film has a clever dose of religious allegory and commentary, which is far better than most R-rated animated content would offer. The film however uses its R-rating to its full advantage as there's constant swearing, sexual innuendos, gore, drug use, and a chaotic and almost uncomfortable finale that is unapologetic whatsoever. The vulgar identity that the film carries is both entertaining to a degree, but also a bit repetitive and tiring, particularly with the swearing. Still, the film contains a ton of laughs to be had and it's all down to the clever writing and character dynamics rather than just constant swearing.
Frank, voiced by Seth Rogen, is sort of the average leader character who puts himself on a journey that will cause some distance between him and his peers, both literally and figuratively. While Frank has his enjoyable moments, his role as the protagonist is a bit odd, especially with Rogen's more comedic antics and vocal performance. Barry, voiced by Micheal Cera, does fit the role of protagonist more than Frank, which is thanks to the character's naive personality, the extended role he gets in the B-roll story, and perfect direction by Cera. Brenda, voiced by Kristen Wiig, is pretty likeable as the worrying girlfriend, but she doesn't really have an arc compared by Frank or Barry and she has some weird racial undertones every now and then. The side cast is massive, so much so that I'm not even going to bother listing the other actors and actresses since it will just double this section alone. Sammy Bagel Jr. and Kareem Abdul Lavash are fantastic comic relief in their portrayal of Jewish-Muslim tension, Teresa del Taco is a solid supporting character who aids the group and lusts for Brenda, the Non-Perishables are an entertaining group of wise men who know the long history of the Great Beyond, Gum is a charming parody of Stephan Hawking, and Douche is a decent, if simple, antagonist who wants revenge for not being able to enter the Great Beyond. There are also the human characters such as the drug dealer and Darren, but they don't have a lot of time to be enjoyable. Overall, the entire cast is great in regards to the sheer star power attached and the characters themselves are fairly likeable or humorous. However, there are some questionable decisions in regards to the role of protagonist and underwritten characters like Brenda and Frank.
The animation is one of the more fascinating aspects of the film, considering that the budget was just $19 million. While you might think that the animation would be of poor quality with that low production value, it's actually not the case. The animation itself isn't perfect though, as there are some odd texture moments and the emphasis on more smooth and simplistic designs means that you're not going to get the most detailed renders out there. However, the animation proves to be pretty fluent and imaginative given its limitations, going for a more cartoony aesthetic and the character designs for the food products being fairly unique in how it has an old-school approach with the gloved hands and black outlines and the food itself adds to the character animation or how they are represented in-universe as a clique or ethnic group. The music by Christopher Lennetz and Alan Menken is above-average. While there are some generic tracks to be sure, Menken knocks it out of the park with "The Great Beyond", which is a charming, Disney-esque musical number that perfectly introduces the tone and feel of the film. The licensed soundtrack itself is also pretty good with Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything For Love" and Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" being used in some memorable sequences. Overall, the animation and music is nowhere near the best when compared to other films, but it's pretty adequate given the budget and film it is.
"Sausage Party" isn't going to be a movie for everyone. The vulgar nature can be too much at times with the swearing and gross-out ending, the characters of Frank and Brenda are underwritten for the roles they play, and the animation isn't the most prettiest thing to look at. For some people, it's going to appear like it's a film made just to be edgy and attract teen audiences for how crass it is. However, the film actually manages to hold up quite well even five years later. From the entertaining premise that complements its R-rating, the witty and hilarious commentary that does a great job in poking fun and criticizing religion as a whole, Barry being a solid secondary protagonist that deserves to be the main character, the various cast of side characters that are likeable in their personalities and comedic writing along with their talented voice actors, the decent and creative animation that does the job well given its low budget, and the offerings from Lennetz and Menken being fairly memorable thanks to "The Great Beyond." If it just held back on its vulgarness in areas and tweaked some central characters, this would honestly be one of the best animated films from that decade. As is, it's still a shockingly great comedy that has a lot more than meets the eye!
Verdict: 8/10. Great, but can be divisive in areas. Watch if you can deal with countless F-bombs and sexual overtones.
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