Foodfight!: It’s About Time

"It’s about time for the next food fight!"

- The film’s tagline.

Foodfight!: It’s About Time is a 2023 American computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Lawrence Kasanoff and Michael Bay. It is the sequel to the universally-panned 2012 animated film Foodfight!, also directed by Kasanoff. The film is produced by Kasanoff and Bay, and written by Kasanoff and Bay, from a story by Bay. The film stars solely Kasanoff as all characters.

Despite the failure of the original film in 2012, Kasanoff has been trying to work on a sequel for 10 years since the first film’s release. In 2022 he finished the script, and went back to Lionsgate to begin production. However, the film’s existence and script was soon leaked by a mysterious YouTuber under the name of “MaxiMayhem” in November 22, and it was soon talked about by every news outlet in the world, with all citing how bad it is. As a result, none of the crew or cast members from the first film wanted to return for the sequel. rejected the script. Saddened, Kasanoff was approached by Michael Bay, who offered his help for the film and make sure it gets released. The script was almost entirely re-written by Bay, who added various explosions in the film, delaying production yet still keeping a planned May 2023 release date. The script was finally “re-polished and truly finished” just hours before it’s theatrical release, with the animation, voice acting, and editing being rushed and completed in 29 minutes.

Upon release, the film was universally panned by critics and audiences, getting even worse reviews than the first film, criticizing it’s even worse animation, script, characters, voice acting, humor, tone, story, plot, dialogue, errors, opening scene, ending, and Bay’s noticeable meddling. It was also the biggest box-office bomb in history, grossing only $29 dollars. The film was so bad, that Kasanoff was never seen again. However, Bay decided to write a third film, titled Foodfight!: Revenge of the Fallen, and work on it all by himself, and release it four months after this film, to an even worse reception. Despite that new failure, Bay created the Foodfight! Cinematic Universe, which goes on in 2156.

Synopsis
After the events of the first film, Dex and Sunshine are a couple. However, the Ikes’ world will soon be threatened by the biggest menace Marketropolis has even seen: a human time-traveler bounty Hunter known as Megan, who wants to go back in time to prevent the creation of Marketropolis and erase the events of the first film, all using hundreds of explosions. Now, Dex must lead every Ike in the world to go in a race across time to prevent Megan from destroying their existence.

Plot
Twelve years after the events of the first film, Megan, a human and former costumer of Marketropolis, decides to crash in into the store and invade the Ikes' world. Megan causes mass destruction, and lots of Ikes are killed. Soon, Dex Dogtective and Sunshine Goodness, now married, arrive and fight Megan by physically attacking her, in a fight that lasts 40 minutes. Half into the fight, Lady X, the villain from the first film, escapes from prison and ressurects his henchman Lietunant X, before going to a warehouse to plan her return.

After the fight between Dex and Sunshine against Megan ends, Megan reveals that she was the old woman customer from the first film that had a baby in the cart and noticed Dex and Daredevil Dan running around in the store out of their world, a discovery that drove her so crazy that she reported it to the store's owner Mr. Leonard, something he did not believe and caused him to ban Megan from ever going to the store. So now she wants revenge against the Ikes by traveling in time back to 1997 before Marketropolis was opened and destroy the store with explosions prior to the opening, in order to prevent the Ikes' existence. Megan grabs a time machine created by Dr. Si Nostrix and used it to travel to 1997, though Dex, Dan, Sunshine, and nearly all the other Ikes (except Dan's girlfriend Sweetcakes) followed her with another time machine. However, Lady X also secretly goes inside.

While in the Ikes' time machine, they talk for 20 minutes. Then, Lady X and Leutinant X showed up and try to kill the Ikes, but Sunshine defeats them just like in the first film, kicking them away from the machine and into the temporal vortex. Soon the Ikes arrive in 1997, before the Grand Opening of the store. Megan leaves hundreds of bombs in the store, all with a countdown of 5 minutes, but the Ikes fight back against Megan with lots of food for 4 minutes straight, all with the same shot being repeated for all that time. After that time, the bombs are about to explode and the heroes begin losing, but the 1997 Ikes soon are born and help in the fight. Megan kills 1997 Dan, but 2023 Dan then knocks her unconscious. 10 seconds into the bombs' explosion, Megan says "I am...inevitable" before the countdown reaches 0. However, the bombs do not explode. Then, Megan discovers Dex with the disconnected bombs, saying "and I...am...Dex", before throwing the bomb at Megan, killing her.

The Ikes win, though Dex begins to die. However, he turns out to be alright. The Ikes then travel back to the present, where they celebrate by dancing the Macarena. The next day, Elon Musk decides to buy the store.

In a post-credits scene, Lady X is revealed to be alive and stuck in 2012, where she tries to kill 2012 Sunshine, but Dwayne Johnson shows up and kills her with his great face.

Voice Cast

 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Dex Dogtective
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Daredevil Dan
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Sunshine Goodness
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Megan, the main antagonist and previously a minor character of the first film.
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Lady X, the secondary antagonist and previously the main antagonist of the first film.
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Lieutenant X, a supporting antagonist and previously the secondary antagonist of the first film, where he died at the end, though now he is resurrected.
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Dr. Si Nustrix
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Cheasel T. Weasel (only character to have his voice actor retained)
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Vlad Chocol
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Maximillus Moose
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Polar Penguin
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Mr. Leonard
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Charlie Tuna
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Mr. Clean
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Mrs. Butterworth
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Twinkleton
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Dr. Simis
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Chester Cheetah
 * Lawrence Kasanoff as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Ten-year long writing
In 2012, Foodfight! was released. It was universally panned by critics and audiences, with some deeming it one of the worst films ever made. However, Kasanoff still had hopes for a sequel, saying, “no matter the disaster the film ended up being to the world, a sequel was always the plan all along. And now it will be even better than planned. If people didn’t like the story about food fights, then the sequel’s story will be a science-fiction time travel adventure. If people didn’t like the humor, then the sequel’s humor will be pure pop-culture references non-stop. If people didn’t like the movie, the sequel overall will be different. They will like it. It’s something special.”

Kasanoff began work on the script prior to the film’s US release on May 2013, all alone this time in comparison to the first film which he mainly made with Threshold Entertainment employee Joshua Wexler. The film’s existence was kept a massive secret to the world. He took ten years to make the film as perfect as possible, wanting to fox every mistake the original had and also “expand on the Ikes’ adventures and the consequences of the first film”. However, truth is that he made one edit on the script every 10 months, so he didn’t really use that much time that is 10 years. Finally, in 2022, the script was finished, and he went to Lionsgate to pitch the project. He hoped to get the rest of the crew and voice cast members back for the film had the pitch be successful.

Mass leak
On November 22, 2022, an unidentified YouTuber under the name of “MaxiMayhem” uploaded a video that stated the film’s existence and its entire script. The video was uploaded just a few hours after a successful pitch meeting for the film took place. Soon the video went viral, gathering 329 million views in just 24 hours. People and news outlets began commenting on how bad the film looks. Other people began sending death threats at Lionsgate to not produce the film. As a result, none of the cast members or rest of the crew decided to return. Also, the budget was slashed to $250,000, putting the film in danger of being cancelled entirely.

Bay’s arrival
On November 28, action film director Michael Bay approached a saddened Kasanoff at his house. Bay told him how he loved the first film and wanted to ensure the film doesn’t get cancelled, saying, “every studio and girl loves me”. Kasanoff agreed his offer and the film continued pre-production the following day.

Changes
Coming soon

Box Office
The film opened in theaters in May 7, 2023 (ten years after the first film’s American release on DVD) on 144p and 5FPS. The film was the biggest box-office bomb in history.

In the film’s 69-day long theatrical run, there were only 3 attendees in total: the YouTuber who leaked the film’s original script, revealed to be named Josh, and his two friends. However, they did not actually watch the movie; they left during the trailer time and went to watch |Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 instead.

In the end, Josh and his friends’ ticket money was estimated to be $29, making Foodfight!: It’s About Time the lowest-grossing movie of all time, grossing a dollar less than Zyzzyx Road. The film was also an estimated loss of $249971 for the studio. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said, “My biggest regret of all time is by far letting Foodfight! and Foodfight!: It’s About Time happen in the first place. If I could ever go back in time (like in the film), I would destroy Kasanoff before he made the concept in 1997”.

Critical Response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film scores a rating of -1%, with 999999 reviews, surpassing Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever as the worst-rated film on the site. The critical consensus says, “Not only is Foodfight!: It's About Time the worst thing reality has brought, but it also proves why it's about time for Kasanoff to give up”. Metacritic have the film a weighted average score of 0 out of 100, indicating “Multiversal Dislike”, the first film of all time to score such ratings. CinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "Z-" on an A+ to F scale, the worst rated film on the site.

Tomson Supretalchukaquitamunach from Screen Rant gave the film zero stars, writing that there was no way "the film was possibly carefully crafted and eventually worth the wait for all these eleven years. Movies that have taken over a decade in making, such as Avatar: The Way of Water, now the highest-grossing film of all time, are really really great films. However, with Foodfight!: It's About Time, I have just lost all hope. Hollywood is dead now. I'm quitting my job as movie critic. I'm done. There's no possible way a movie worst than this one will ever be possible, unless Kasanoff becomes a complete psycopath." Juki Ajqieisuj wrote, "the animation is even worse, the frame rate is terrible, and the story... WHO THOUGHT THIS MOVIE WOULD BE A MASTERPIECE THE WAY IT CAME OUT???????? Anyway, it's not about time for Foodfight! to get a sequel. It's about time for Kasanoff and Bay to just leave the movie industry forever for the best." However, Imnota Reel-Persone from The Fake Reviewer gave a positive review, writing, "Foodfight!: It's About Time actually has a more compelling story that also makes far more sense, such as when Megan kills 1997 Dan before being defeated by present Dan. The ending where the supermarket is bought by Elon Musk is actually very emotional, and so is the journey that Dan takes about letting Sweetcakes go. Also liked the part where Dex says, "it's foodfightin' time" and foodfighted all over. Truly one of the movies of all time".

The film was mainly criticized for the ending, which showed the Ikes successfully defeating Megan. It was hated by everyone due to them considering Megan’s motives to erase the events of the first film as sympathetic due to how bad it was to begin with. The film was so bad, that audiences considered Kasanoff’s original script as better than the final film. Screen Rant placed it #1 on the list of the worst movies ever made, saying that it was, “worse than the worse of everything”, calling it, “a mess that will never ever be better than anything. I prefer hearing Norm the polar bear farting for 8 hours than watching the unbelievably padded 99 minutes of this garbage”.

Shortly after the film’s home media release, Josh and his friends were arrested for 5 years for leaking the film and also for breaking the screen in the theater room, all before he could try to do the second Sony Hack. At prison, he did manage to do the hack, and leaked not only a Sony Pictures Animation film titled Animaland, but also finally found the stolen long-lost early animation files from the first Foodfight!, but decided to just keep it a secret from the world.