The Simpsons Movie [July 2007]
OVERALL
Took them long enough! Maybe it took them a little too long.
If you're a fan of the Simpsons, you're probably not watching as much these days as you used to. Before, Sunday nights were like a church to us, especially at 8pm when the Simpsons came on. Then along came DVR, (aka Tivo) and we started missing the show every once in awhile, but catching up with them later on.
Then FOX started preempting the show for something else they thought would bring good ratings.
But then, something happened. The Simpsons started getting good again. Sorry, I mean BETTER. All of a sudden I'd watch a show, and find myself laughing the entire episode. Then I watch it again, and again.
Then we heard about the movie, and I had mixed feelings. What Simpsons would we get? Obviously they need to pull out all stops with lots of celebrity voices (they may not use their real names in the credits, but you'd know it was them) and a story that might unravel the Simpson's family world.
And the movie pulled it off. There was mix of new Simpsons and old Simpsons, mainly due to the plethora of writers from the early days. No Conan O'Brien, though, but screw him.
Onto the movie. Unlike last year's Family Guy movie (you know, the Stewie one) it was just three episodes back to back to back. With the Simpsons movie, it was a MOVIE. It was one long storyline that lasted about an hour and a half.
And starting with Itchy and Scratchy, and Homer in the theatre, it was like watching a Simpsons episode in your living room with over 100 of your closest friends. Everybody was laughing at all the funny parts, almost to the point of tears.
Sure there's a good storyline about Homer dooming the entire town of Springfield, the town running for their lives (including a great part about Homer giving everybody the bird), and then yadda yadda... I'm not going to give anything else away.
But this is currently the funniest movie I've seen this year. Funnier because I knew the characters and their foibles, and knew the small "in-jokes" for the fans who've been watching since the beginning.
PRO vs. NO
PRO: The movie centered around the family, but I believe every other character who was ever in the show made a cameo, whether it be spoken, screaming or not. The scene with a naked Bart skateboarding worked, although I was skeptical at first. And the best part of the movie was Julie Kavner, who out-acted any other cartoon character with one little video. Also, a certain song from the series ("Why do birds suddenly appear...?") makes a great return. And, as always, Albert Brooks (sorry, A. Brooks) was a great antagonist.
NO: Throughout the television series Mr. Burns was the evil guy. He had some great lines in the movie, but was not given a bigger role. That's about it.
SIX WORD FINISH
"Stand back! I've got a chainsaw!"
-- Homer, in one of the best lines of the movie.
FINAL BELL
-- 5 out of 5 -- First movie of "Where's My Popcorn?" to bat 1.000. This is one of the better movies of the year, and not just because I'm a Simpsons fan. Okay, maybe it is. But this movie was far better than I thought it was going to be, and wasn't just 55% new material. The one thing that could hurt this movie was the over saturation of the market. People will get tired of hearing about Simpsons, especially with their faces everywhere ("Get a mammogram, man!"). But the movie is worth it, even if you've never watched an episode. Although smaller characters have a few lines, the lines work and make sense... even if you've never heard of, or seen, the characters before.
WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION?: Oh yeah.
