15 Years after their first cinematic outing, The Aqua teen gang are back again, this time in TV/Streaming movie form for a 2nd feature length outing. and its kind of just ‘Business as usual’ honestly.

The plot is set in between the latest 2 seasons of the show and the Aqua team have disbanded after frylock (once again) has pushed Shake too far. As such, Master Shake is currently homeless and sleeping in a box fort on Carls lawn, Meatwad is working at a dog sanctuary, Carl is purposfully trying to flatten the Aquas old house so he can raise the price of his property, and Frylock is now working for a 4 foot tall tech bro called ‘Neil’ who owns ‘Amazin’ (Essentially, this is a mashup of Amazon and Elon Musks various ventures)

When Frylock gets sent on an errand to work for Neil, the pair hit it off and eventually grow a friendship, especially when the Fry man mentions he can splice Neils DNA with taller DNA to help him grow to a non hilarious height.

Of course, the tech backfires and before you know it, plant people are running rampant in downtown New Jersey…Same old Same old.

And…to be honest? I didnt dislike this one, but I do wonder why THIS plot got a feature runtime. This could have easily just been a 2 parter of the normal series, and probably WAY more consistent for it.

The actual plot itself groans a little bit under the stress of trying to break that 70 minute runtime, and while the actual content of the film is fine enough, it doesnt really push the envelope in a way that I’d have found satisfying. Compare this to their first film (which DID get a theatrical release) and its relatively low stakes. The first film at leasst TRIED to put a bit of new ‘lore’ in there, it felt like a bit more of an event. It went the way of the 1966 ‘Batman’ movie by just making an episode of the TV show, but with bigger plot points, celebrity names and a few more interesting twists and turns.

This? well, like I say, it just feels like an extended TV episode. If it were the last thing ATHF related to come out, it wouldnt be going out on a high by any means…it would just be ‘an end.’

Because its plot is kind of fragmented up until the last 15-20 minutes or so when everyones re-connected, it also means the amount of characters who can appear is limited. Essentailly we get the 3 Aqua Teen mains, Carl, the landlord (who is only very fleetingly in this) and the Mooninites. Who have one random cameo in the 3rd act, but are forced into the film via 4th wall breaks all the way throughout, they have very little to do with the rest of the movie however.

But the other characters? Mothman, M.C Pee Pants, Handbanana? all abscent…and notably so. Im not sure if this was an attempt to go back to the shows basic roots, but it leaves the project feeling distinctly stripped back in a way that had me wondering hwere everyone was.

As for the script itself? well…as mentioned its a bit overlong, the 1st and 3rd acts are fine, but the 2nd act goes on a bit longer than i’d have liked, and it starts to get a bit confusing towards the end of it as a load of ‘Mad Max’ references get dropped in out of nowhere. The tone is *pretty much* in line with the TV show at this point, but you do get the feeling the cast are a *little* out of practice.

The direction, cine, all that stuff? its basically the same as the TV show, basic…a little more fluid here than usual (im assuming an inflated budget helped that) but unremarkable is the honest answer.

The performances were fun, but not particularly memorable or quotable. The character of Neil was (while watching) fun enough, but the ‘tech bro billionair’ trope thing has LITERALLY been done to death (it was dead pre-pandemic…letalone in 2022)

All in all? eh…I like Aqua Teen, even the later seasons are at least consistent. And this is basically just that…Consistent, but not really trying to push any boundaries, develop any new ideas or really do much of anything other than bring the characters back one more time.

Its fine…But I just wish given the feature running time it was a bit more of a grand affair, rather than a shrug and a ‘see y’er next time.’

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/aqua-teen-forever-plantasm/