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Title: The Simpsons Movie
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The term “Worst. Movie. Ever.” is likely to be the most overused catchphrase from Simpsons fans who walk into “The Simpsons Movie,” and want to give a “critique” that makes them sound more clever then they really are. Like Jay Sherman giving a bad review of “Sleepy Hallow” on his show ("the movie is both sleepy AND hallow”) just because it’s too good a pun to pass up, I expect many others will be quoting Comic Book Guy’s most famous quote from this week to sometime in September, the time when the DVD will arrive on store shelves if recent trends are to be believed. Still, if people are to claim this the worst movie ever in an attempt to sound clever, then I am afraid “The Simpsons Movie” is going to be very, VERY shorthanded this year! If anything, “The Simpsons Movie” is a movie that delivers not only a very satisfying movie going experience, but it is also a movie that is (surprisingly) worthy of respect.
That may sound like a strange recommendation about a movie where the main storyline is held together by pig crap, but hey, I guess that happens once in awhile. Not that it matters seeing as how, like the TV show of the same name, “The Simpsons Movie”really isn’t held together by it’s storyline. On the contrary, the movie is much like the TV show in that it begins with one thing only to change focus and turn into something else midway through the film. As mentioned before though, all the major events in this movie start when Homer Simpson, fresh having adopted a pet pig named Spider-Pig/Harry Plopper, dumps all of the little porkers dumpings into Springfield’s lake, therefor causing the US Government to declare Springfield a health hazard and seal the town in a large glass dome.
This doesn’t sit well with anyone in Springfield really, but it sits the worst with Homers (very patient) wife Marge, who received a spiritual message from God prophesying this event, and warning of more danger to come from it. And while we’re talking about spirituality, it appears that the passages about a father needing to take care of his family proves to be very true in this movie. It’s not just Marge who Homer tends to neglect, as his own son Bart is craving the attention of a proper father figure after a particularly humiliating event involving a skateboard, a dare, and a little yellow doodle. With Homer not filling the shoes of a responsible father figure, Bart ends up looking at neighbor Ned Flanders in a new light. This comes as a revelation to Bart, who previously felt Flanders was nothing more then a conservative loser who didn’t really have any fun.
Lisa meanwhile is mad at her dad for polluting the lake, a serious offense in her book seeing how much of an environmentalist she is. Oh, and she has a new Irish boyfriend that I’m willing to bet five dollars will disappear once season nineteen airs on Fox in November (just in time for the annual Halloween episode to air one week after Halloween). As for Maggie...well, she’s the one member of the family who says the least, yet seems to understand more then everyone else in the movie. As with the TV show (depending on who you ask), “The Simpsons Movie” delivers so many laughs you might need a spread sheet database so you can keep track of all the jokes, the first of which has Homer watching a movie version of Itchy and Scratchy, and complaining loudly “I think everyone in this theater are a bunch of suckers for paying for something they can watch on TV for free.” Point well taken.
We then have a President Schwarzenegger making all the wrong decisions now that he’s in the White House. I’m wondering whether or not I should mention the big name celebrity who guest stars...nah, I’ll leave that for you to discover. With eleven writers on the screenplay, “The Simpsons Movie” has as many writers as “Meet The Robbisons” did, twice as many writers as all the summer threequels, yet it’s one of the most intelligent scripts of the year. It reminds us why the Simpsons have been on the air for so many years, and why we continue to watch even when the quality of the show has been spotty the last couple of years at best: Because when this show nails it, it nails it hard.
What is the “it” I refer to? Everything. It hits with the humor, so it’s laugh a minute. It hits with the action, so that it’s exciting when it needs to be. But most importantly, it hits on the heart. The characters may be stereotypical at times, but they are real human beings. Human beings who make mistakes, want more from life, and question the choices they make. It’s this key difference that makes shows like “Family Guy” look like the poorly written shows they really are. While “Family Guy” is content to laugh at the characters, “The Simpsons Movie”gives us characters we can laugh with and, at times, share an emotional moment or two with. Maybe that’s why whenever Homer does something stupid we sympathize with Marge and the kids so much. We love Homer. Why wouldn’t we love Homer?
He’s generally a nice guy. The problem is he’s an idiot. A MAJOR idiot! Yet we forgive him and all his flaws because we see he tries so hard to be good, it’s just that his human failings bring him down, as they do everyone else at one point in time. Rounding out the experience is a wonderful musical score by Hans Zimmer. I don’t normally bring up musical composers in my print reviews of movies, but I think this is interesting to note because Hans Zimmer is one of my personal favorite musical composers and one of the most acclaimed in Hollywood right now. That said, he’s not who I had in mind for scoring a Simpsons movie. His best scores are that of epic’s such as “Gladiator,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End.” His comedic scores for movies such as “Shark Tale” and “Madagascar” are pretty weak though.
To say I was a little concerned about the music would be putting it mildly. Thankfully the music is a revolution in itself. Working with a bigger canvas the script for “The Simpsons Movie” aims for a higher emotional reach and succeeds spectacularly. The score reaches the same epic heights while still getting the low key moments perfectly. It’s sounds like Simpsons music, but more mature. A perfect sound for this movie. I’m not sure if a review for “The Simpsons Movie” is really something the world needs. I don’t know if people who don’t regularly watch”The Simpsons” are even all that interested in seeing this movie, and faithful viewers will watch it anyway. So regardless of my high praise, the three hours time it takes to review this movie are, most likely, a futile effort. D’oh!
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -