Beavis et Butt-Head se font l'Amérique

The controversial but highly popular MTV animated series hits the big screen in this surprisingly entertaining and humorous film from the crazed mind of Mike Judge. The two dim-witted teenage friends have their television stolen and set out to find it. However it seems that a chemical weapon of mass destruction has fallen into the pair's hands. Now national security is a major issue as the two go on a long journey to some of the country's most famous locales. The authorities always seem to be two steps behind in this film that has a comedic life of its own. Interesting voice characterizations by Judge, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Cloris Leachman and the golden-voiced Robert Stack all match their animated alter-egos perfectly. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Beavis & Butt-Head Do America is a good movie with a pretty well written storyline and a terrific voice cast. It's nothing outstanding, but it's simply a fun and enjoyable ninety minutes of animated adult comedy. I'm not a huge fan of the Beavis & Butt-Head television series, I like it but don't love it and that's the same way I felt about this, I don't have any care or sympathy for these characters, but seeing them behave like huge idiots in this movie, which is basically just a long episode of the series, was certainly a good time. Die hard fans of the television series will certainly love it, as for people who have never seen a single episode, it is still worth the watch if you ever see it on television and have some time to kill.

After their TV is stolen, Beavis & Butt-Head travel across America in search of it.

"Beavis and Butthead Do America" is filled with vulgar humour, sadistic or otherwise bizarre characters and a convoluted plot insane enough to make no sense. These are some of the movie's finer qualities. If you didn't like the main duo to begin with then this will do nothing to convince you otherwise. But why should it?

Mike Judge has managed to fill out the 75 or so minutes well without making it drag, and he's done it with style. Since he cannot change the simplistic, constantly sniggering leads he has done the most logical thing he could by surrounding them with a plethora of multi-faceted characters tied together with a conspiracy plot that takes them into other locations where their simple-but-effective double-entendre humour can flourish. Previous characters make a return and are given some development where relevant to the plot.

It all starts inauspiciously enough - the hard rock obsessed teenagers awake one day, still on their couch, to find their beloved television is missing. Not smart enough to put the pieces of the puzzle together to catch the thieves in the act, they try and steal one from their school. Wandering around town ever more desperate, they somehow manage to usurp the television thieves, but not in the way you might expect. This lands them right in the thick of it, and the unassuming pair make their way through. Hilarity ensues on a regular basis.

In my opinion as a would-be critic, we need more films like these. Certainly there are plenty of gross-out movies, some of them also animated (as a side note the animation here is a nice balance between the original show and something more polished) but there are few that can take simple toilet humour and dress it up so well, making it more than just a guilty pleasure to enjoy after a few beers and/or a joint. This is right up there with the finer moments of South Park for such an achievement, and can easily be considered Beavis and Butt-Head's crowning moment of funny and/or awesome.

Overall this is a fun, feelgood comedy which doesn't require all your brainpower to enjoy to the fullest, though an extra watch or two might throw up a few sight gags or subplot references that you missed the first time around for whatever reason(!) The plot seems somehow relevant too, considering that it also deals with an issue that has been a headline grabber in post-9/11 society. But not without a couple of sniggers along the way, of course.

7 stars out of 10: very, very good.

Beavis and Butthead have always been tricky to love. The humour in their shows is often slow, and obviously childish. But with this great feature film, we get plot and constant laughs as they make their way across Amurhka casing trouble and destroying everything in their path!

Of course, they don't know any better, and with the FBI hot on their heels we are thrown into a full length chuckle that never tires.

I remember seeing it on the big screen upon release, and now, to see it again on DVD almost 20 years later (oh dear god), is quite enjoyable!

Check it out and switch the brain off.

huh huh... anus

Animated MTV characters Beavis and Butt-Head made their feature film debut with this very funny movie that actually does a good job of sustaining itself for 81 minutes, with a pretty good story and plenty of the kind of humour that us B & B fans love so much. It's gleefully lowbrow stuff, and that's just the way we like it.

Our favourite antisocial horn dog teenagers wake to discover that the most important item in their lives, their TV set, has been stolen, and their search leads them to a shady character named Muddy (voiced by Bruce Willis). Muddy offers them $10,000 to do his wife Dallas (voice of Demi Moore), and B & B readily accept after misinterpreting the word "do". They become embroiled in an elaborate plot to steal a powerful biological weapon, all while following the quintessential B & B agenda: trying to score!

B & B's assorted adventures include making life miserable for cranky old neighbor Tom Anderson, causing havoc at places such as the Hoover Dam, the appearance of the legendary Cornholio (who, of course, just needs TP for his bunghole), encountering two very familiar looking former Motley Crue roadies, hallucinating in the desert, and having some eventful plane and bus rides. (It's just so priceless that B & B, upon seeing that they'll be on a bus full of nuns, can't see past the fact that their fellow passengers are chicks.) The colourful cast of characters also includes Agent Flemming (in an inspired bit of casting, Robert Stack voices this part), an ATF agent obsessed with cavity searches. Cloris Leachman plays the aged "slut" on the plane & bus, and Eric Bogosian, Richard Linklater, and David Letterman (billing himself as Earl Hofert) round out the various pop culture figures supplying voices.

And everything is set to a kick ass soundtrack that begins with a "Shaft" style number co-written by Isaac Hayes and B & B creator Mike Judge. Other artists heard include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Zombie (Rob Zombie also supplies the artwork for the hallucination sequence), AC/DC, Rancid, LL Cool J, Ozzy Osbourne, and Butthole Surfers.

If you're a fan of the TV series, you're sure to enjoy "Beavis & Butt-Head Do America". It's extremely agreeable from start to finish, and doesn't overstay its welcome. It delivers more laughs than a lot of live-action comedies.

Eight out of 10.