Sausage Party

Sausage Party could be Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's best creation. It could even be the film of the year.

Hype has seemingly been a curse at the cinema this year with the mightiest names falling foul to the social media hype-machine and either not quite delivering (Suicide Squad, Warcraft) or just flat-out failing (Batman v. Superman.) With its delayed release, years of creation and all-star cast, Sausage Party could have been the latest also-ran but I'm delighted to say that this delivers on all the promise.

An 'adult' Toy Story is absolutely the best description that you can grant this wonderful little film starring Seth Rogen's hot dog Frank and the rest of an anthropomorphic supermarket. I don't want to give too much away (suffice to say the trailer, ingeniously, throws you off the actual plot completely and it's much better to go in not knowing what to expect.)

Although the animation isn't quite Pixar-quality (it's not meant to be) it's more than serviceable and each character is lovingly rounded out and the voice cast is immaculate (Rogen, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Kristen Wiig, Salma Hayek, Edward Norton, Craig Robinson, James Franco, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Paul Rudd I'll stop there but could go on!)

The plot is more than just a vehicle for laughs and goes beyond its obvious religious paradigm to become an adventure ride every bit as note-worthy as Toy Story. There are some lovely real-world touchstones and references all brought to life with foodstuffs.

I could critique the fact that all the products are very American and, therefore, not always instantly recognisable but this is a small gripe and generally easy to look past.

Comedy-wise these guys touch on everything from the traditional stoner humour and gross-out stuff to the aforementioned political comment and look out for quite possibly the funniest scene in animation history (Team America, eat your heart out.) I say look out because, without letting the cat out the bag, it can't be unseen but will leave you clutching your sides in stitches.

This is certainly not a film for the faint-hearted and anyone expecting any sort of family entertainment should not be lured in; this is easily the rudest and crudest film you'll see this year, it even tops the Trey Parker and Matt Stone-helmed Team America and South Park in these stakes.

This wonderful team of writers and actors have created a labour of love that will stand up not just in the history of adult animation but in the history of comedy full stop. I would even go as far to say that, if this were to be ranked as part of the Pixar catalogue, this would be someone near the top of the pile.

A brilliant treat and a contender come the end of year tally-up.

5 stars *****