by Darius Washington

I went to a recent screening of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, and am mystified as to why people find this show funny, as the film honestly bored the heck out of me.

Based on the hit Adult Swim TV series, this animated action-adventure epic tackles the mysterious circumstances that brought Meatwad, Frylock, and Master Shake together. The main plot concerned the ATHF getting their hands on an exercise machine that turned the user into a rampaging robot monster, while a set of aliens who are the Force's counterparts look on.

As an anime fan, I can usually get with parody plots involving big mecha, but the screenplay for this movie wasn't entertaining. I really didn't get the jokes. Actually, I take that back: I did, and realized they were the kind of dirty jokes I would've loved when I was 9-12 years old living in the 80s, but just tend to shrug off now.

It was nice to see a couple elements like the main villain's ship from Hanna-Barberra's Space Stars, as well as a small shout out to pro wrestler Chief Wahoo McDaniel, but these and a couple laughs really don't save the movie. Occasional mentions of 80s pop culture can be cool, but if those elements don't totally add to the overall enjoyment of a film, then what's the point?

On the other hand, if you're already a fan of the ATHF TV series, you may be interested to know the other fans who attended the screening seemed to like this movie for the most part, so I guess I could recommend it to veteran viewers who enjoy it. But for the uninitiated, I really can't see doing so.

Grade: C

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