After four hundred episodes, 23 Emmys, and Time Magazine’s “best television show of the 20th century” award, “The Simpsons” makes its long awaited big screen debut.
It all begins with Homer, his new pet pig, and a leaky silo full of droppings – a combination that triggers a disaster the likes of which Springfield has never experienced.
Forced to flee to Alaska (where no one “can ever be too fat or too drunk”) by a vengeful mob, the Simpsons clan is soon divided by conflict, leaving our hero alone and... drunk.
Meanwhile, back home, US President Arnold Schwarzenegger (“I was elected to leeed, not reeed”) has decided to try and contain the ecological disaster by blowing Springfield off the face of the earth.
As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, Homer embarks on a personal odyssey of redemption – seeking forgiveness from Marge, the reunion of his splintered family, and the salvation of his hometown.
They say:
Empire: “This is not the worst film of the summer, just the biggest waste. Then, perhaps that is the problem. The Simpsons never needed to be a movie.”
Total Film: “The Simpsons Movie confirms Groening’s creation as the smartest, funniest, most inventive cartoon in history. Watch it and weep... with laughter.”
We say:
When a film goes through two years of rewrites and over 100 script drafts but still isn’t ready for press screenings you can’t help but fear the worst.
And while the finished product isn’t quite the disaster we expected, it certainly isn’t a patch on the usual Simpsons fare.
Jumping on the global warming bandwagon, Matt Groening and co have just about managed to find a plot worthy of the extended running time, although at only 80 minutes long (they claim it’s 87 but we reckon it’s actually around ten minutes shorter) you don’t exactly get good value for money and fans’ favourites such as Mr Burns hardly get a look in.
Also, with eleven writers working on the project (usual suspects John Swartzwelder, Mike Reiss and James L Brooks are all present) you’d expect more laugh out loud moments, particularly as most of the best bits (e.g. “Spiderpig” and the wrecking ball scene) have already been seen in trailers.
There are, however, plenty of decent sight gags - Bart’s blackboard lines read “I will not illegally download this film” while Lisa’s Al Gore style lecture is entitled “An Irritating Truth” - and director David Silverman’s (Monster’s Inc) makes good use of the widescreen format, lavishing considerable attention on background textures and colours.
Overall, however, the movie is so bogged down by unsubtle environmental preaching and sickly sweet, Disneyesque musings about family values, that fans may not even recognise their heroes.
“I can’t believe we’re paying to watch something we get for free on TV” protests Homer at the start of the film. Amen to that.
CAST
Hank Azaria
Dan Castellaneta
Julie Kavner
Nancy Cartwright
Yeardley Smith
Harry Shearer
DIRECTOR
David Silverman
TIME
80 mins
POSTED...
Fri 27 Jul 2007 at 7:46am
