CNN
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The planet’s most humble animated duo make a semi-triumphant return in “Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe,” which — unlike “Done” in the US 26 years ago — premiered via Paramount+. Basically a long, silly misunderstanding, it’s just a matter of filling a black hole of goofy and inappropriate comedy.
Series producer/voice man Mike Judge teams up with co-writer Lew Morton and directors John Rice and Albert Caleros on this latest adventure, which employs a tried-and-true plot device to convict the central pair of “space camp”. where they are drafted for a mission that inadvertently vaults them through black holes from 1998 to 2022.
A new century brings new terminology to his addicted teen life (include “white privilege”), not one of the deeper themes that resonated with him. In fact, the pair’s overall motivation is that they think a female astronaut (Andrea Savage) wants to “do it” with them, yielding an endless Abbott and Costello Routine Words with double meanings that generate those trademark “hey heh” chuckles.
As always, if Butt-Head is an idiot, Beavis has somehow stayed a run or two below him on the evolutionary ladder, at one point prompting the former to look sarcastically, “You really don’t want to be yours today.” Bring the ‘A’ game.” Their main appeal is that they remain so joyously and downright foolish that they are hard to resist, even when they are in contact with seer-like beings, who represent the best versions of them from alternate universes.
Like the film released a quarter-century ago, pulling off the friends’ TV-forged interludes in nearly 90-minute frames represents a challenge, and the repetitive nature of the gags can’t help but yield diminishing returns. Still, “Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe” is generally inventive enough to justify a comeback engagement, leaning into the idea that Judge’s creation is an artifact of its time. That it is a chronological one when prompted in the 2020s.
That’s not to say that “Beavis and Butt-Head” brought out its “A” game at all, and in fact, it’s hard to imagine what its “A” game would look like. “Intellectual Property” Is A Misnomer, But The Movie Begins Mini-resurrection for the title After a hiatus of more than a decade, with a new series joining the existing episodes on the streaming service later this year.
Still, as the “B” games go, “Do the Universe” makes the show tick. Sure, it’s another throwback that aims to downplay the value of nostalgia, but one executed with a level of relentless silliness, like never accusing its “stars” of over-thinking things. Will go
“Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe” premieres on Paramount+ on June 23.