Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters

Up front, I'm a fan of ATHF. As far as I'm concerned, it was Adult Swim's best show ever, bar none. Loved the minimalist animation, the surreal humor, and the absurd premise. And I loved it in 12 1/2 minute bursts. ATHF does not lend itself to 90 minutes. It has to really stretch to fill time, and rarely does it do so successfully. It feels like it reaches a natural conclusion at the 60 minute mark, which makes the last 30 just drag on. Yes. this movie brings together a lot of characters into one place. I checked the time remaining on several occasions, because I just couldn't believe it hadn't exhausted the runtime when it had clearly exhausted its premise. Yes, it finally brings Dr. Weird and Steve into the show properly, instead of being a prologue gag. And yes, there are funny moments. It's full of the ATHF humor you know. But it's just that: funny MOMENTS. In a 12 1/2 minute format, those moments are back to back, and any glaring weaknesses are covered up by the next joke being a few seconds away. This does not have that luxury. It has to build up its meager plot, which spreads out the gags too far apart. It's just never consistently funny enough to be necessary viewing. South Park's movie kept upping the ludicrous stakes minute by minute. Beavis & Butthead's movie knew that the boys were the butt of the joke, and built the movie around it by taking them out of their comfort zone. This is just a long episode, and it has all the weaknesses therein.