It says it, right there in the goofy title that Borat beat to the punch, that this was a "movie film for theaters." Unlike Borat, alas, few people bothered seeing the movie paying $10 for stadium seating and $5.50 for a tub of popcorn. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters made less than $6 million, hardly a hit (even though it only cost $1.5 million to make).

Sadly, that $1.5 million didn't buy much. Aqua Teen, based on the arguably popular "Adult Swim" late-night cartoon, isn't much funnier than your random YouTube video. I can only guess that if you're initimately familiar with the TV show, you'll find the misadventures of fast food refugees Master Shake, Meatwad, and Frylock infinitely amusing. It will probably help if you are stoned or drunk out of your mind.

The plot? Why bother. If I must, it loosely (loosely) involves an exercise machine that turns into a robotic killing machine. In the Thighmaster era that would have been hilarious, I'm sure. Here, it's just a platform for one-off jokes and sight gags, some of which I'll readily admit are hysterical ("I helped Timmy find his nuts!") but many of which die right on the vine. (Ultimately, the movie will be remembered (if at all) for its guerilla marketing campaign, which the city of Boston took to be a terrorist threat and cost Turner Broadcasting $2 million, more than the cost of making the film.) All of that said, the "Let's all go to the lobby" parody that opens the film is pure genius.

To call the animation amateurish would be an insult to amateurs. Though in fairness, the show is meant to look haphazard; think of it as modern art in the animation world. Of course, this works just fine with the haphazard approach to story and plot. There's no style to any of it, just a desperate (often extremely desperate) search for opportunities to crack jokes that have nothing to do with anything. But you know, given the alternative (the lack of humor entirely) I'll take the cheap gags. Still, I have trouble accepting that even rabid Aqua Teen fans, accustomed to 15-minute snippets of this stuff at a time, will enjoy it 80 minutes at a stretch. Bring your largest bong.

I suppose if you're a super-fan, you might as well check out the DVD, loaded with extras, including a "80-minute deleted movie," on its own disc, including 10 alternate endings, deleted scenes, videos, and more. The feature (the non-deleted one) includes a commentary track, as well.



This doesn't look like Springfield to me.