Rate & Review: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

[Tomacco]

Wow, I hope that doesn't happen when I go see it...

It happened at my theater too, but only a couple people. It didn't bother me though, I expected a strong reaction to this part of the movie since I know people love it on the ads. Sure enough, tons of laughter.

[Worker And Parasite]

the movie beat my expectations, legitimately had me laughing for a good portion of the film. the humor was very slapstick-esque (as i had expected) and lacked the subtly of old simpsons humor, but was still fun to watch. i think it was just a neat experience seeing the simpsons in the movies, as silly as that sounds.if there ever is another movie, it should be done with oakley and weinstein in complete control, with hand drawn animation... something for all the old die hard fans.

[Wall E. Weasel]

actually i did enjoy the al brooks character, that mad with power quote made me laugh. a bit.

but otherwise it was fucking awful. homer was much more an imbecilic and selfish manchild rather than a well-meaning buffoon and the whole premise was just stupid and full of plot holes (why didn't anyone think to, um, DIG under the big glass dome?). i know it's an old argument but i spose i just didn't enjoy it cos all my favourite episodes are episodes of a sensitive, clever sitcom that just happens to be a cartoon rather than episodes of a wacky cartoon and the film was undeniably wacky.

[richardUK]

Okie dokie then!

Upon first viewing the movie seemed funny, but somehow un-Simpson like. A lot of jokes and plots that seemed more Family Guy-esque than Simpsonian. Still really, really funny though.

However, upon second viewing, it becomes all the more Simpsons like (as do most edgy classic era episodes!) It's political, it tricks the audience, it's got emotional moments, the voice acting is spot on, Homer is loveable, the kids are confused, Marge is no longer annoyingly fiesty and mean (great to see!), Maggie is awesome, the secondary characters have just as much effort put into their lines as OFF, and the voice acting is totally spot on!

It was incredibly well adapted for audiences that may not have even seen the Simpsons much before; possibly the cleverest gag in the whole film is the Church members fleeing to the bar, and the bar-flies rushing to the Church. To make it more obvious what the joke is (religion > alcohol, alcohol > religion), the sign on Moe's says "MOE'S BAR" instead of just "MOE'S".

What's one of my favourite things from the classic era? What have I seen none of in recent episodes? Well see, there's this cat and this mouse...
Honestly, there was no better way to start the film than with a classic Itchy and Scratchy short. As soon as the screen zoomed to the moon and put on very kids-tv-show animation, I thought "what the hell? am I in the right cinema room?". Then the astronaut turned round, SCRATCHY! That put a smile on my face. My only query about that whole sequence is where the hell was the blood? Very strange.

Bart skateboarding naked... right. In some ways it's very Simpson like, in some ways it's not. See, they completely screw the audience, you think they're being clever and having a "how many ways to cover up a penis" gag. And there is a pretty good one. But near the end, when there is an opening in the bush, the gags been going on long enough for no one in the whole place to expect that has penis is going to show, and it does. And it's not obscene at all given it's a little boys penis; it's just funny. On the other hand, showing any genitalia is quite un Simpsonian; not even Family Guy do that. It's too crude. But then, it's a movie, and besides, if they were allowed to push the boundaries ten to fifteen years ago, why the hell not now?

In the trailers, the "pig crap" silo idea looked really... well, shite. (Get it? No. Ahh.. it's the acoustics). But the way it's introduced makes it pretty good; it makes fun of it's own crudeness. It's self aware.
Homer: Don't worry Marge, I'm storing it in the most elegant way...
*cut to overflowing pig crap silo*.

No shortage of monkeys, which is nice to see!

Only thing I wasn't too keen on in the film was Bart's whole thing with Ned... I like bad Bart. Bart did nothing bad in the film really, he was just "troubled". Id've much rather seen him be consoled by Ned, shoot Ned with a slingshot, climb down from the tree and that's that. But then again, some people thought the Bart - Ned plot was a really good B-story, so I guess it works. And it does make for an interesting contrast, and the bad parent who loves his kid really coming through at the end be all the more triumphant-seeming.

Very funny Ralph line; "I like men now".

Green Day's cameo was awesome, they were at the beginning which is good because it means that people who are huge fans won't be sitting through the whole thing thinking "oooh when are Green Day coming on?". I love how they made no exception for Green Day and took the piss very happily. Was that Billie Joe's voice? It sounded so much higher than Billie. Mike and Tre sounded like them, but Billie sounded... like a ten year old? Maybe they added chorus, or maybe he just chose to talk high.

Moe is no longer just pathetic; he's gone back to good old surly as well! Woohoo!

I swear I saw a Life In Hell reference! When OFF are in Alaska (where you can never be too fat or too drunk...), in their hut, Marge turns round, she's upset, and her mouth makes her look excactly like Bongo. Maybe its wishful thinking, but I saw it!

Lisa's whole story was... well, she's changed, there's no doubt about that, but she's still Lisa, and the story was still generally good. I liked the idea of her meeting her intellectual and moral equal, and actually becoming best friends instead of enemies. Nice.

The whole Big Fish reference was really funny; I was thinking "I swear this is Big Fish.." then the siamese twin Japanese wifes came on and made me laugh out loud. Good stuff.

Animation:
Ok. I'm gonna go ahead and say, I HATE the new stlye Simpsons animation. I think it's lifeless, too clean, and too smooth. Means nothing to me. I loathe it.
But they're using it, they have to, and as it goes, I suppose it was done pretty well. It was atleast well done computer-rubbish, as opposed to badly-done computer rubbish.

Wow, that sounds like a pretty bad way to end a good review, eh?

Lets add in that Homer is a real person, with moodswings much like a dog (something that made him great a long... long time ago), and is completely loveable.

Oh, and the kickback to early 90s episodes with "Why do Birds..." worked wonderfully.

Best film of 2007. Saw Harry Potter a few days before, which is all well and good, but the Simpsons? Epic. Matt Groening, you are a total genius.

So, the film that has been led up to for eighteen, maybe nineteen years, the film that in many ways, my whole tv-watching life has been leading up to (I'm a member of the generation bought up on Simpsons @ seven from age six, and proud!)...
...was a massive comedic success.
Any question over whether the Simpsons can ever return to form has been answered...
Hell yes!

Viva le Simpsons, and, in the immortal words of someone far greater and slightly simpler than my self...
Woohoo!

--Rich

[Tomacco]

actually i did enjoy the al brooks character, that mad with power quote made me laugh. a bit.

but otherwise it was fucking awful. homer was much more an imbecilic and selfish manchild rather than a well-meaning buffoon and the whole premise was just stupid and full of plot holes (why didn't anyone think to, um, DIG under the big glass dome?). i know it's an old argument but i spose i just didn't enjoy it cos all my favourite episodes are episodes of a sensitive, clever sitcom that just happens to be a cartoon rather than episodes of a wacky cartoon and the film was undeniably wacky.

The funny thing is that your complaints would be my major ones for seasons 10+. However, I thought this movie made incredible improvements on that. Homer's characterization was spot-on, I felt. He had genuinely emotional moments with Marge and Bart which didn't feel forced to me at all. Besides that, Homer was basically characterized as an extremely careless person who loses sight of what matters and other people's thoughts and feelings. I love how even when he's trying to overcome his shortcomings, he still just can't catch a break, like when he knocks everyone off the rope. He still ends up victorious in the end in redeeming himself though. Basically the whole movie is Homer's story of self-redemption, which is so satisfying to me because there's more than enough episodes in seasons 10+ where he's depicted as either too stupid, too selfish or too much of a general annoying "jerkass" without paying it off with an honest and satisfying form of redemption. For example, episodes of recent years that deal with the marital crisis theme usually have random tie-ups at the end, like the band in a closet in "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" or Homer's little speech to Marge's date in "Regarding Margie". All of the moments that served character and seriousness in this film, however, I thought were perfectly done - as dramatic and effective as emotional episodes like "Lisa's Substitute", "Mother Simpson" and "Homer's Triple Bypass".

[Cartoonnetwork]

Ok then. It was hilariously funny. The animation was incredible. First half hour was awesome in every way. But seriously, it was me or just too many parts of the plot didn't make any sense?

Odd. I need the extended version. Right now. Seriously I enjoyed it. A lot. But at the same time, I can't help but thinking it's pretty flawed plot-wise.

My ranks would be something like this:

Animation...5/5
Humor...5/5
Characterizations...4,5/5
Plot....2,5/5

My main problem is that it had a lot of good parodies of the average blockbuster movie but plotwise had a lot of the problems blockbusters have.

I don't even know what grade I should give it.

Just make the extended version with more Burns scenes and also Patty, Selma and Sideshow Bob. Add some explanations here and there like what the fuck happened to the pig? and it could be a 5/5.

They could fix that up for the dvd. But it won't be the same in a dvd. Oh well.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Best Simpsons material since the classic era. My only problem is that Russ Cargill and Colin seemed underdeveloped, but i'm sure Colin will be further developed in future seasons. Thats right. He'll be back. 4.5/5

[Jukka]

That was a surreal experience. Wow. I don't feel like analysing it til I see it a second time, but here's some first viewing thoughts:

Praises

- The characterizations were absolutely PERFECT!!
- The best Marge performance since... I couldn't even say. It has to be at least 10 years, probably even beyond that, maybe EVER. I almost shed a tear during the video scene.
- Bart was phenomenal. The scene in front of the church with Homer and Ned where Bart says "hey, the guy knows me" sums up Homer and Bart's relationship so well. They have fun together basically, even though Homer can be careless.
- I don't think a single joke TRULY fell flat. I had least favorite jokes, but I can't even remember them now.
- There weren't many completely knee-slapping hilarious moments, but there were TONS of jokes and moments that brought more than chuckles. I feel like repeat viewings will just make the humor richer.
- I'm glad they really refrained from making a million meta-references. They had a great balance with doing one at the start of the movie and then one at the end (Springfield Gorge, with the ambulance).
- The animation and direction was spectacular.


Criticisms

- As cliche as it's becoming to say this, I wish there were more arbitrary secondary character appearances, notably by Skinner and Burns.
- Lisa's plot with Colin was truly underdeveloped.
- Some more time on the "life in Alaska" part of the movie could have been nice as well.
- More A. Brooks would have been peachy.
- Homer's epiphany scene could have been done in a more effective way I thought. Mainly, more interaction with the "boob lady" before entering the fantasy sequence would have made the whole thing seem less arbitrary.

I think that's all I can come up with.

The Audience

- Since it was a noon show, my theater (which is big with stadium seating) was about half full. Still good. Unfortunately, a woman brought a misbehaving child into the show and the kid was making noise for the first 20 minutes of the movie before people started yelling "SHUT UP!!!" and they left. Otehrwise the audience was great. Applause for a few different bits, laughter throughout, and then you could tell who the die-hards were by who stayed through the opening credits (which was about 55% of the audience).

All in all, despite a couple things I think could have used improvement, this seemed like the most honest and real depiction of the Simpson family in decade. While it may have not always reached the "classic" level of humor (which mind you we might be idealizing a great deal), it was a completely rewarding and totally surreal experience.

4/5 - may change after more viewing

kind of waited your review of it. always pleasure to read, jonah! :-)

[DotheBartman]

I said in my b-day thread that I probably won't have a real complete return here...and that still basically stands, but after all this time it WOULD feel a little weird not to at least quickly share my thoughts here about the movie. No long review going into characterization details or whatever, but...

Anyway, I really liked it. A lot. Anyone who's stopped watching out of either disgust or boredom should still check the movie out. I thought it was really hilarious, sweet, satirical and smart. Really, it had everything I wanted out of a Simpsons movie, minus a few characters. Even having stopped watching the new shows, it was a lot of fun going back to Springfield at least one more time, and this is now one of my favorite movies this summer.

So, yeah. Count me as at least one old-school NHCer who thought it was great and definitely worth the wait.

[Jims]

I saw the midnight showing, but I've been too wiped out today to post anything. It was kinda weird being in a room with that many Simpsons fanatics at once. The guy sitting next to me was shouting random Simpsons characters during the trailer, and Duffman was sitting three rows in front of me. Heh.

Overall, I thought the movie was great. The jokes were really sharp, with a great opening Itchy & Scratchy cartoon. This movie really hit the ground running, in terms of humor. In fact, there were so many great gags that it's hard to pinpoint one that really stood out. I did think that the jokes got progressively more inconsistent as the movie went on, but it's a minor squabble... Especially since the second half of the movie tended to have the best character moments.

Characterization-wise, it was pretty flawless. All the characters were true to themselves. It was also nice to see the return of "Nice Guy Ned," who was much more endearing in the movie. He was still corny and square, but without all that religious commentary that's been plaguing his character of late.

I felt like the plot was all over the place sometimes, but I liked how tightly the story was written in some places. I really liked the callback to the sandbox sinkhole, and the later callback to Homer's motorcycle tricks. The motorcycle seemed really random at the time (that's how they got a truck?), so it was good to see that they went somewhere with it.

I wish they would've addressed one of the minor plotholes in the movie. I feel like a huge internet nerd for even asking the question, but it's worth mentioning. Since the Simpsons escaped through the sinkhole, why couldn't the Springfielders just dig a tunnel under the dome? It's a question that they could've easily answered, with a cutaway joke about tunneling or something. Maybe I give the citizens of Springfield too much credit.

I was surprised at what a small role that Lisa played in the movie. She didn't really do much to move the plot along, and was just "kinda there" the whole movie. It's not really a complaint, but it was surprising nonetheless.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. After seeing this, I feel strangely (and probably unfoundedly) optimistic about Season 19.

A-

[moneychair2003]

I wish they would've addressed one of the minor plotholes in the movie. I feel like a huge internet nerd for even asking the question, but it's worth mentioning. Since the Simpsons escaped through the sinkhole, why couldn't the Springfielders just dig a tunnel under the dome? It's a question that they could've easily answered, with a cutaway joke about tunneling or something. Maybe I give the citizens of Springfield too much credit.

it wouldve been alot of concrete to tunnel through. they'd need jackhammers to break through it or dynamite and considering springfield was under the dome itd be impossible for them to find that.

[Coaxial]

4/5

I was relieved, very relieved. I was close to wetting myself just before the film because i was so nervous. I thought it was going to be crap. I was wrong. Very wrong!

The animation was first class; faultless. The jokes were great. There were a few surprises; Otto's bong hit (which me and my friends laughed a little bit too hard at causing the other cinema-goers to play a game of 'spot the stoners'), Homer flipping the