The Simpsons Movie (2007)
By PaulI can’t believe we’re paying to see something we get on TV for free! If you ask me, everybody in this theater is a giant sucker!
By this point, with nineteen years worth of episodes under its belt, the need for a feature length version of The Simpsons seems like a dubious proposition at best. If you really need to see ninety minutes of America’s favorite yellow-skinned losers, there are probably at least that many reruns on Fox’s associated networks that you either haven’t seen yet or don’t remember that you’ve seen. I have the same problem with Law and Order repeats on TNT.
The Simpsons Movie is essentially a scaled-up version of a regular television episode, falling somewhere in the upper half of the Springfield bell curve. This is far from the classic level to which the series could rise back when I was still part of desirable demographic, but it’s certainly not going to waste your time. You will be entertained and amused, but not any more than if you saved your ten bucks and caught four random episodes of the series on TV.
One thing that might disappoint Simpsons devotees is how little the film takes advantage of the relative freedom of the big screen. Given the shows reputation for irreverence, you’d think that they’d get a little more mileage out of their PG-13 rating. Compared to South Park’s balls-to-the-wall approach to fearless tastelessness, however, The Simpsons Movie barely edges out of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
For all the anticipation that accompanied the arrival of television’s longest running animated series on the cinema screens, the movie plays it safe and does nothing remotely unexpected, which makes it a perfect encapsulation of the state of the Simpsons franchise these days.
About the author:
Paul's cat has violent mood swings between ennui and apathy.
January 30th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Can I vote more than once in the poll? I’m looking forward to 6 of those choices!
January 30th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Nope. It’s which one you’re looking forward to MOST. Sometimes you got to make the hard choices.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I couldn’t agree more. Matt Groening really missed his chance to breathe some life back into a series that has seen better days.