A Film Review By Stefan Vlahov
The only reason this film, the title of which I will not bother to type out, is not totally worthless even though it deserves that label more than any other film to have come out in the past few months, is because its jokes, as absurd as they are, never really fall flat. Almost every line of dialogue in this film is meant to be funny, and gets at the very least, a chuckle. Which is somewhat of a surprise because the TV Show the film is based on is rarely funny and every episode seems like a rehash of the same idea. At least in a feature film format, the shallow and pointless story works better as an adventure than the shortened 10-minute episodes do. By the end of the film, there is at least some closure, just like there is a relatively quick and dirty prologue in the beginning, and the audience is not left waiting for what will happen in the next episode.
Creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis are your typical "we look funny and are funny" comedy nerds that have become all too common now that "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" are all the rage. I wasn't expecting anything new from them, as far as inserting anything even close to being realistic or thematically important in their film, and unfortunately my low expectations were met. Yes, I can talk about how this film blows out The SpongeBob Square Pants Movie out of the water in all areas (even animation quality), and I can say how it's funnier than half the live action comedies that come out these days, but sometimes simply being better than the usual is not good enough. Maiellaro and Willis depend solely on the material at hand, religiously following the narrative and structural essence of the TV show, as if afraid to screw something up. What they don't realize that stupid humor and pointless wandering about by the main characters can only be tolerated to a point, and unfortunately that point came before the end of the film's running time for me.
The film follows Master Shake (a milkshake) Frylock (fries, really, but with the container), and Meatwad (a a meatball) as they try to discover a piece of exercise equipment and start-up a (Star Wipe!).... Ok now they are trying to find out who Master Shake's parents were so he can (Star Wipe!).... Ok now Carl is getting really big because of that dangerous exercise machine, and he farts because (Star Wipe!).... And so on and so forth. If you want a film that has a solid plot that actually goes somewhere this isn't the film for you. If you want a film that cares about its characters succeeding and actually sees them do that this isn't for you. If you want a film that you can easily understand when not under the influence, this isn't the movie for you.
And yet, that is why it's partly appealing. There are times when what's on screen is indescribable (something that is pretty hard to achieve in an animated film, especially one as crude as this one), but as with every other part of this film, it doesn't really matter. I, foolishly tried to follow along with the story, but I was lost in the first eight minutes tops. After that I just sat back and watched the attack of the senses that was mercilessly delivered upon me in minute after minute. It was all fun, all offensive, all over the place, but it was also all completely and utterly empty.
No one, not even a pot-smoker, will walk away with anything remotely useful or compelling from this film. For me personally, the best part was the elongated cameo by Space Ghost as it brought about a powerful pang of 90's nostalgia. But when that is the best part of a film, the film is simply not worth it. That is unless you want to see something completely different and unlike any animated or live action film out right now. Of course leave your brain at home.
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