This long-awaited (at least by me) sequel to Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters is likely to confound (and annoy) anyone unfamiliar with the animated TV show. I’ll be completely honest, even die-hard fans may have a hard time warming to it as it’s definitely not in the same league as the first movie (or the show). However, when it hits the sweet spot (which admittedly, isn’t as often as I would’ve hoped), the results are hilarious.
This sequel picks up with everyone’s favorite team of fast-food superheroes going their separate ways. Meatwad is living in an animal shelter, Master Shake is homeless, and Frylock has gotten a job at an Amazon-like corporation. When Frylock inadvertently helps the company’s evil billionaire CEO create an army of plant monsters, it's up to the Aqua Teens to reunite and save the day.
As with Colon Movie Film For Theaters, Plantasm gets off to such a great start that the rest of the movie is perpetually in catch-up mode. The fever pitch opening has several big laughs and manages to contain references to everything from Star Wars to The Thing to Space Jam. Too bad there are some serious lulls in the laughs after that. It would’ve been an even tougher sit if the Mooninites didn’t keep showing up to interrupt the feature. Their frequent (and funny) appearances help prevent the film from being a real disappointment.
This review is coming from a fan of the show. While it wasn’t exactly worth the wait, it did have its moments. Your average episode of the show is only about fifteen minutes long. That’s about the perfect length for the concept, to be honest. A seventy-five-minute feature is kind of stretching it. The brilliance of the show is that it’s about a team of superheroes who never really fight crime and spend most of the episodes in their rented home being shitty roommates to one another. The concept kind of loses something when they actually have to, you know, save the world and stuff.
It also doesn’t help that they spend so much of the movie apart. Once they finally get the band back together, there’s a spark of what made the original show so beloved. It’s just a shame that spark isn’t prevalent throughout the rest of the film.
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