Master of the short form...get the picture?
LGwriter | Astoria, N.Y. United States | 09/28/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Bill Plympton is a great animator whose brilliant imagination is seen at its best in the Plymptoons video/DVD, a collection of many of his short pieces through the years. But when he tries his hand at a feature length film--past efforts include The Tune and I Married a Strange Person--he's only intermittently successful. Plot is not his strong suit; bizarre transformations and visual satire are.So here we have another feature length Plympton work. The Tune actually did work, thanks to the nimble songwriting talents of Plympton's musical partner Maureen McElheron. But Ms. McElheron is not in evidence for Mutant Aliens and so the writer-director has a bunch of wacko looking human goofballs who--right, you guessed it--change shape to become the aliens they really are. In the process of getting to this point, lots of strange sex and violence is proffered, none of which adds up to much in terms of telling any real story.The three stars are for Plympton's astounding visual imagination and occasionally sharp sense of humor. But look elsewhere for an animated film that actually has real substance."