Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
When I was in college, I used to check student IDs in my dorm to make sure no serial killers would sneak in or if someone wanted to vacuum their carpet at two in the morning, they could check one out and wake up their neighbors. I was making the rounds one night and stopped in my room to gather my laundry en route. I turned on my television, and there it was: this weird show about a milkshake, box of fries, and a meatball running around and acting like goofs; I just stopped and sat down watching it, transfixed by the absurdity. The front desk had to call me and check to see if I was going to come back to work. Since then, I've been a fan of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force".
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Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (yes, that's the actual title) embraces the same bizarre brand of humor that made the late night Cartoon Network oddity a cult gem among connoisseurs of the weird and stoners alike. For reference, the television show--which was a spin-off from "Space Ghost Coast to Coast"--is about three fast food-themed characters engaging in some altogether stupid adventure with low stakes, and things like continuity or plausibility don't exist here. This trio consists of the self-aggrandizing Master Shake (Dana Snyder), the scientific voice of reason, Frylock (Carey Means), and the literally brainless, shapeshifting meatball, Meatwad (Dave Willis). Along with their slothful neighbor, Carl Brutananadilewski (also Dave Willis), they usually just make things worse in their escapades, if even they bother to get involved at all. Between the paper thin plots, there are plenty of strange guest stars--usually aliens, and often from the Moon or Pluto--and anachronisms that are played for laughs. Each episode ran about eleven minutes, meaning that the humor would have to be punchy and the laughs constant, which speaks to its appeal. The biggest fundamental difference between the show and the movie is really the length, with the movie being something like a "super" episode, or season binged in one sitting. The movie--whose title I'm not typing out again--is about an exercise machine called the "Insanoflex", which may have been built in the future by one of the Plutonians named Oglethorpe (Andy Merrill), coming to life and causing rampant destruction--and it's up to the "Aqua Teens" to stop the chaos. The basic premise of the movie is similar to the pilot episode of the series, where a giant metal rabbit runs amok and levels the city instead...and I'm sure it's totally meant to be self-referential and not just rehashing the same story. Before they build the machine--which Shake and Meatwad stole from Carl (not like he was using it)--they have to find the missing motherboard, which is ominously shaped like the letter "W". This brings them to the South Jersey Shore, and the home of Dr. Weird (C. Martin Croker), a character who would introduce each episode of the show with an occasionally relevant scene depicting the maniacal scientist--who wears what looks like a purple shower curtain emblazoned with a giant "W"--losing control over one of his experiments. His shadowy castle overlooking the ocean has been renovated into rental lofts, and he and his assistant, Steve (also C. Martin Croker), try to deflect the investigative efforts of the Aqua Teens through characteristically unlikely means.
The film uses the same style of animation found in the cartoon show, except when it deviates for aesthetic reasons or comic effect. The opening credits are animated in a style reminiscent of graffiti, and the street vibe is given an extra dimension through a remix of the show's theme song by Schoolly D. When the Insanoflex transforms, the scene is peppered with intentionally cut-rate CG; this is just before it hijacks Carl and exercises him into ultra-buff shape while tearing across the city, spreading baby Insanoflex pods that will destroy the world when they hatch. The film's opening lampoons those dancing snack foods that try to entice moviegoers to visit the concession stand. This is followed by a heavy metal song performed by Mastodon--they fill another movie theater role by telling the audience to keep quiet and not video tape the movie, under the threat of being cut by their "linoleum knife". The movie runs approximately eight or nine times as long as one of its episodes, and crams in a lot of reoccurring characters from the series. This includes the long-winded Cybernetic Ghost (Matt Maiellaro), the oft-reincarnated rapper, MC Pee Pants (MC chris), and fan favorite Atari-esque Mooninites, Ignignokt (Dave Willis again) and Err (and Matt Maiellaro again), contributing their (often inappropriate) individual idiosyncrasies to the wackiness. The movie even revisits non sequiturs from the series and (sort of) justifies them--like why a grinning Abraham Lincoln sets them off in a rocket to the moon during the TV show's end credits, or why Frylock keeps a photo of him and Dr. Weird (with brown hair) in his room. Part of the movie explores the creation of the Aqua Teens; they even manage to introduce a new character--for all of five minutes--named Chicken Bittle (Bruce Campbell), implied to be the missing member of their virtual happy meal. Like the episodes, the movie follows a deranged stream of consciousness style of storytelling; one event leads into another which leads into another with an unfocused, matter-of-fact presentation. The plot only makes sense because of the predilections of the insane characters that make up the Aqua Teen Hunger Force universe. This is the foundation of the show's--and the movie's--brand of humor, which is unabashedly silly, wacky, gross, and even nonsensical; but as the saying goes, "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men".
Recommended for: Fans of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", since all of the self-referential humor and lack of character development would turn it into pure nonsense for anyone else--though that's not necessarily a bad thing. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (fine, I did it) is filled with the same crass humor, weird characters, and absurd plots that make the show a delight and guilty pleasure.
The film uses the same style of animation found in the cartoon show, except when it deviates for aesthetic reasons or comic effect. The opening credits are animated in a style reminiscent of graffiti, and the street vibe is given an extra dimension through a remix of the show's theme song by Schoolly D. When the Insanoflex transforms, the scene is peppered with intentionally cut-rate CG; this is just before it hijacks Carl and exercises him into ultra-buff shape while tearing across the city, spreading baby Insanoflex pods that will destroy the world when they hatch. The film's opening lampoons those dancing snack foods that try to entice moviegoers to visit the concession stand. This is followed by a heavy metal song performed by Mastodon--they fill another movie theater role by telling the audience to keep quiet and not video tape the movie, under the threat of being cut by their "linoleum knife". The movie runs approximately eight or nine times as long as one of its episodes, and crams in a lot of reoccurring characters from the series. This includes the long-winded Cybernetic Ghost (Matt Maiellaro), the oft-reincarnated rapper, MC Pee Pants (MC chris), and fan favorite Atari-esque Mooninites, Ignignokt (Dave Willis again) and Err (and Matt Maiellaro again), contributing their (often inappropriate) individual idiosyncrasies to the wackiness. The movie even revisits non sequiturs from the series and (sort of) justifies them--like why a grinning Abraham Lincoln sets them off in a rocket to the moon during the TV show's end credits, or why Frylock keeps a photo of him and Dr. Weird (with brown hair) in his room. Part of the movie explores the creation of the Aqua Teens; they even manage to introduce a new character--for all of five minutes--named Chicken Bittle (Bruce Campbell), implied to be the missing member of their virtual happy meal. Like the episodes, the movie follows a deranged stream of consciousness style of storytelling; one event leads into another which leads into another with an unfocused, matter-of-fact presentation. The plot only makes sense because of the predilections of the insane characters that make up the Aqua Teen Hunger Force universe. This is the foundation of the show's--and the movie's--brand of humor, which is unabashedly silly, wacky, gross, and even nonsensical; but as the saying goes, "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men".
Recommended for: Fans of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", since all of the self-referential humor and lack of character development would turn it into pure nonsense for anyone else--though that's not necessarily a bad thing. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (fine, I did it) is filled with the same crass humor, weird characters, and absurd plots that make the show a delight and guilty pleasure.