Saturday, July 28, 2007

Movie review - The Simpsons Movie

I am a huge Simpsons fan. HUGE. As are the rest of my siblings (although Pooey may not be to the same extent as we others). Say a Simpsons quote and chances are I can say the line immediately following or even the episode it came from. *Forwards, not backwards! Upwards, not forwards!* As you can gather, I have been waiting for this movie many, many years of my relatively long/short (take your pick) life. I'm not such a one-eyed fan that I don't recognise that the series has dropped in quality over the years so it was with a mixture of trepidation and excitement that I saw the Movie.

Like the tv episodes, this movie intertwines a number of storylines which I'll try to outline here.

1. (Main one) One day in church, Grampa starts speaking in tongues warning about a coming disaster. After the death of Green Day due to the pollution of Lake Springfield, Lisa manages to convince the town to clean up. Homer undoes all the good work by dumping a silo full of pig manure (*spider pig, spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does!*), and manages to have the entire town baying for his blood when they get encased in a dome to stop it spreading. After the town discovers what Homer's done, the family manage to escape to Alaska, but upon discovering that Springfield is going to be turned into a New Grand Canyon, even Marge gives up on him when he refuses to return and save the town.

2. In the mean time, he's also alienated Bart by daring him to skateboard naked across town and then denying that he knew anything about it. This leads to Bart to see Flanders as a father figure after observing the way Flanders cares for Rod and Todd.

3. Homer attempts to redeem himself in everyone's eyes.

Reading the credits at the end, I recognised a lot of the names from the *classic* years (seasons 3-8) such as director David Silverman (there is a Simpsons style known as *pure Silverman* - if you listen to the DVD commentary), and writers George Meyer, John Vitti, Mike Scully, John Swartzwelder etc etc. The presence of these people on board (imo) shows as the family, particularly Homer, stop churning out endless rounds of gags and return to being the 3-dimensional people that made them iconic. While Homer is still a stupid buffoon, he's a likeable stupid buffoon. Apart from the family, the rest of the town characters don't get much look in. The exception being Ralph Wiggum - his crack line is awesome!!!

Other than the strong plot, the satire, cheap shots and jabs at the audience that made the series so iconic are also present. Itchy and Scratchy make a great comeback (something I miss in the more recent eps), Lisa's crusade for the environment is called *An Irritating Truth*, Homer asking why would somebody pay money to see something they could see for free on tv (heh), and of course, numerous cracks at Disney -particularly when when cutesy animals help out humans!!! At the end of the film, I had sore cheeks from laughing so much. One thing that's been deleted from the series is the presence of a token celebrity guest who play insignificant roles, with the exception of Tom Hanks as himself. That is a good thing. The only other *guest* is Albert Brooks playing the head of the EPA, but he's been on the show so many times he may as well be a semi-regular. And many people have commented on it, but Bart's nudie run is BRILLIANT! Yes you do get to see his doodle, and it's worth every laugh it garners.

That said, this is not the kick-in-the-face-to-all-the-poeple-who-said-The-Simpsons-has-lost-it movie I really wanted it to be. It takes a mystical guide to show Homer why he needs to save Springfield - a device that was used in the Homer's Soulmate episode. A lot of the laughs come from basic slapstick humour (Homer getting hit by random items). I mean it's not unfunny, but its not particularly inspired. The fact that the other citizens of Springfield take a backseat. Bart defaces a Simpsons family wanted poster and a family who look just like the defaced characters turn up. Ok, that last one was actually really funny but still a bit easy.

I think the main problem is that by waiting so long to do a movie, they've consolidated their fan base a little too well. I was always going to see it, I was always going to love it, I was always going to be comparing it to the gold that I remember it being. But I also can't deny that I didn't enjoy it. Despite everything, this is a highly enjoyable movie. Not a classic, and unlikely to convert haters into lovers, but definitely enjoyable and that's what makes it great.

8/10 (7/10 if you're not a fan or truly do wish to return to the glory days)

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