The Simpsons Movie
By Jason Revill
With the release of The Simpsons Movie it seems like fans of the show have been coming out of the woodwork. I’m not sure if it is the fact that this movie has been marketed out the wazoo or if people really just enjoy jumping on a bandwagon, but everywhere you turn there’s someone claiming to love the show but then adding the caveat of not having seen it in a while. I hate to break it to you, but that’s not being a fan. I don’t entirely blame you though, since Fox isn’t helping anyone out with their sports coverage. You’d think they wanted to kill shows. And of course there’s the matter of everyone watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which I’m sure will be a decision that is looked back fondly upon.
I, on the other hand, am a true Simpsons fan and have been since the age of eleven when it first aired. Actually I used to watch the Tracy Ullman Show with my parents just to watch the cartoons between sketches. I was the perfect age for when the show began and as it matured I did so along with it, although my own maturity is subject to debate. During dinner in the cafeteria at college a friend and I would play “Name That Simpsons” with whatever episode was on that night in syndication. I generally won, of course I say that knowing there is no way for him to dispute me. I only tell you this so that you know where I’m coming from when I say that even though The Simpsons Movie is funny it is ultimately a big disappointment. I grant you that it may just be inherent that I’m going to be let down what with the expectations nearly twenty years can build, but if you’re going to bother ever even making a movie aren’t fans like myself the ones you really should be trying to please?
Diehards are going to be surprised not only at a smaller laugh per minute ratio than they are used to, but also a surprisingly small amount of screen time for the legion of secondary characters that they’ve come to love and frankly expect. There are several sweeping shots of people like Apu and Smithers, but for the most part they are neglected. I realize that in eighteen years you cover a lot of ground and trying to cover it all in one film is impossible, but it seems that if you were going to make a film with such a rich history you’d do more with it rather than address it by putting everyone in a big mob and chasing Homer and family off to Alaska. While watching the film, I kept asking myself where The Simpsons Movie fits into the Simpsons canon and, well, it doesn’t.
Now as much as I hate to do it, since everyone is going to and especially considering the “Simpsons did it” episode, but there has to be a comparison of The Simpsons Movie follower South Park. When Trey Parker and Matt Stone decided to take their show to the big screen and make South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut they knew that what passes in people’s homes on television would die in the theater. The jokes that work in every other episode just float around without getting much more than a chuckle in a big open room. Parker and Stone knew that you have to inflate your product so that it’s bigger than television and can really fill that space and the expectations that go along with it. In doing so they created not only one of the funniest films and arguably the best musical of my lifetime, but what is the benchmark for any series trying to make that transition. The mistake they made here was that instead of doing that, The Simpsons Movie gives us pretty much what we’ve come to expect and nothing more.
Don’t misunderstand me, saying that The Simpsons Movie just gives us the same old thing is really more of a backhanded compliment than a true criticism. In this case “the same old thing” is one the best television comedies in history. The influence it has had on the global lexicon aside, the show has had an immeasurable impact on comedy writing and has followers that include anything from Family Guy to Ricky Gervais. All in all, The Simpsons Movie is easily one of the better comedies of the year, but as far as it compares to the shows usual output it’s a mediocre episode with a ninety minute runtime.
The Grade
- Story: B-
- Acting: B
- Visuals: B
- Originality: B
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: B
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