Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

I enjoyed this film a lot more than I expected to. I was never very taken with Beavis and Butthead's short sketches on MTV, and in truth they've never really taken off in England the same way they did in the States. The somewhat obvious satire lacks the gentle wit of Mike Judge's other creation, "King of the Hill", and spending 80 minutes in their company was a dubious prospect.

However, ...Do America sensibly opens out the scope, taking in less broad targets. For a start, we have Beavis and Butthead's hippie teacher, who gently strums his spiritual song, "Lesbian Seagull". It's a testament to the profile of the cartoon that Englebert Humperdinck gives his own rendition of this for the end titles. But best of all is their neighbour, redneck Tom Anderson (Catchphrase: "I'd love to get my hands on those two b******s for whacking off in my camper van"), who, while not the same character, has the exact same voice, personality and appearance of Hank from "Hill". Judge obviously knew when he was on to a good thing and built a series around this great character.

The plot is brilliantly silly, with the two boys getting involved, unwittingly, in a plot that sees a killer virus, attempted murder and the emergence of World War III. President Clinton even makes an appearance towards the end. Movie culture is openly lambasted, starting with King Kong, and taking in an opening title sequence (theme song by Isaac Hayes, a year before South Park) that parodies both Shaft and Charlie's Angels. Look out too for the climatic "slow motion" sequence.

Jokes are puerile, such as the two obnoxious leads laughing uncontrollably at the word "wood", or another scene where a man asks the pair "have you got a match?" "Yeah," replies Butthead, the slightly smarter of the two, "my butt and ... uh ... your butt". It's childish, but it made me laugh. Not the most subtle exercise in wit, the film is still a worthwhile, and, by it's own small ambitions, successful picture.