Anthony's Film Review - The Simpsons Movie (2007)

The movie feels like a long Simpsons episode, but the humor has not fully worn out...

As I review The Simpsons Movie, I am reminded of one of my other movie reviews. When I reviewed South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, I mentioned two kinds of movies based on TV shows: remakes and continuations. Both South Park and The Simpsons are examples of the latter. They both have a movie that is like another episode of the show, but three times longer and at least thirty times bigger. It's not enough for such a movie to be more of the same as on TV. It must have more than what the episodes have, enough for the film to feel like an epic compared to a TV episode. The South Park movie succeeded on that level. I went to see The Simpsons Movie with similar expectations.

To some degree, it felt like that. Since I do not want to spoil the plot, I will only reveal the main plot premise, which is that Homer Simpson accidentally pollutes a lake and ignites a series of complications. When you hear about that, you expect something grand in the story. Again, my expectations were met to a certain extent, particularly in the first half. I do admit that the climax wasn't as climactic as I had hoped for in a film like this. Then there's the running time of 1 hour and 26 minutes. For me, any movie not longer than 100 minutes feels too short for me. It's just something I've gotten used to.

But the movie is still funny. It's not significantly funnier than an episode of The Simpsons, but it's not less funnier either. There is also humor that would make the TV episodes more risqu� than they already are. Overall, there are enough jokes to keep you and everyone else laughing. That's the part I did like about the film. Laughing along with everyone else. Unless you watch episodes of The Simpsons on a big-screen TV with many friends in one room, The Simpsons Movie is sort of a new experience.

I don't think there was any major reason to make a Simpsons movie other than for experimental purposes. It feels as if the writers wanted to see how successful they would be in making a movie based directly off the show. Come to think of it, the answer is a no-brainer. If the Simpsons could become one of the longest-running shows in television history, there must be millions of people watching. Therefore, many of those people would see the movie as well.

At one point in the film, Homer wonders why people would pay to watch a movie based on a TV show when they could watch it on TV for free. Well, the answer is simple. The Simpsons are a satire of us and the world we live in. The citizens of Springfield so far manage to not get stale after being on the air for so many years. Otherwise, I would not have bothered to see this movie in the first place.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about The Simpsons Movie, visit the Internet Movie Database.