Rate & Review: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

[kupomog]

I know I've asked for this before, but can we see a breakdown of who voted for what...again? Administrators and moderators, I'm looking on your direction!

Note that Tingle's vote has technically been switched but is only reflected in number.

[Hiphopopotamus]

I wish I voted a 5/5 instead of a 4.5/5.

[Mr_Scorpion]

I wish I voted a 5/5 instead of a 4.5/5!

Funny, I wish I'd have done the opposite.

[kupomog]

I could change the votes if you really want me to, it takes like 2.866745 seconds if I'm paying attention. I demand sugar cookies for Christmas, though.

[Hiphopopotamus]

Thanks.

[TriforceBun]

If you could alter mine from a 4.5 to a 4, that'd be great. Thanks in advance!

[elipeli]

Funny, I wish I'd have done the opposite.

Me too, in fact I thought I did. Weird...

[lothor511]

Hi, I gave the simpsons movie a 5 star rating i think it was well worth waiting for 18 years to see it

[arii]

Yeah, I'd drop my vote down to 4.5/5, too.

[kupomog]

All right, changed all the votes indicated, and re-counted it all to make sure it was right.

[Mr_Scorpion]

Thanks!

I think I was just high on the thrill of seeing The Simpsons on the big screen when I voted 5/5. It's a very good movie, but it's definitely not perfect.

[Dental Plan!]

Sugar Cookies for all!

Any chance my vote could be changed to a four? Thanks.

[Figgles]

I don't see it. Are people rating it so highly just because it's the Simpsons movie? I wasn't too thrilled with it. It definitely didn't seem like classic simpsons to me at least. I love the Simpsons, but I didn't like the movie, which is odd considering so many people are rating it so highly. I'm not going to rate it, until I've had a chance to watch it again. Perhaps I'll enjoy it more the second time.

[kupomog]

Sugar Cookies for all!

Any chance my vote could be changed to a four? Thanks.

Done.

[Dental Plan!]

Thanks plenty.

[Turambar]

I'd give it 3 out of 5. I didn't think it was that great a film to be honest. I found more laughs in it than I did in season 18 though, but I suppose I was expecting too much from it. Could have been better.

[Mindy Simmons]

Hi, ev'rybody! I'm new, been lurking for a while. I saw the film opening weekend and originally gave it a 7/10 (3.5/5) The more I thought about it, the more I found to love about it, and I upped my rating to 8/10 (4/5.) It may go higher once I see it again on DVD, who knows?

Anyway, here's my review, ripped from IMDB:

When "The Simpsons Movie" was announced, it raised my interest, even though I had pretty much given up on the weekly show, which probably should have retired with the 20th century. The trailers I saw did not appeal to me at all. Still, as a fan since the Tracy Ullman days, I decided that I would give the film a try, IF it got decent reviews or positive word-of-mouth. A few hours into the weekend, I convinced myself to go, with no expectations, and hoped that it wouldn't be a total wreck of a film.

Boy was I (pleasantly) surprised.

"The Simpsons Movie" is a funny, smart, and endearing flick that left me with a sense of giddy satisfaction that I haven't felt since the show's heyday in the 90's. It revolves around a fairly simple story(that gets increasingly elaborate,) held together by perfect characterizations and lots of humor.

There's something about seeing a comedy on the big screen that makes it so much more fun. "Simpsons" offers a diverse comical dish that includes broad slapstick, satire, irony, social commentary and good old fashioned madcap cartoon shenanigans. The jokes work more often than not, and there's enough humor to evoke steady laughs and smiles. Even the gags that seemed overly silly in the trailer (I'm thinking specifically of the Rock and a Hard Place sequence) worked well in front of a diverse audience of hundreds. (In retrospect, I wonder if the rock/hard place gag was not meant to be more of a isolated set piece rather than literal action that takes place in "real time." Hmm...) The film takes some risks , including a few sight gags and jokes that would not make into Fox's prime time lineup, but it also seems strangely...sterilized at times. Suicide jokes, middle fingers and animated "doodles" aside, I was still left with the feeling that the creators held back in some ways, more than they would have even on the small screen. Something about the film seems edited, even incomplete in some spots. On the other hand, I'm glad they didn't go too far. As crude as it can be at times, The Simpsons franchise has always maintained a certain level of class and good nature. Shows like South Park and Family Guy would not exist without "The Simpsons," yet their brand of comedy does not suit Matt Groening's classic.

The most surprising aspect of "The Simpsons Movie" is its genuine heart, an element that has been missing from the series for nearly a decade. There are some truly sweet moments in the film, and the script, along with fine animation and excellent voice work, helps to create some interesting character nuances that I don't think I've ever seen before. For the first time since I was a child, I actually cared about what happened to the Simpson clan and the citizens of Springfield. Bart and Lisa were real, believable kids, without losing their distinct edge. Maggie was used well for comic relief. Marge was perhaps the most well-developed character in the film. But I was most impressed with the handling of Homer. Throughout the history of the series, Homer has gone from temperamental disciplinarian, to passive but disgruntled father, to lazy but lovable oaf, to irrational idiot, to town whipping boy and finally to, well, to complete a**hole. All of these elements are present in the film, but they are slowly stripped away, and for a few fleeting moments, the audience is able to see a real person, flawed but kind-hearted, and ready to accept responsibility. Will this "new" Homer last? Only time(or a sequel) will tell. Remember, this is the same guy who survived death and disaster on many occasions throughout the series, and made many a vow of change, only to revert immediately(and comically) back to his old ways.

The animation is excellent, and its heartening to see a return to hand drawn work, even with the incorporation of some CGI. The combination of styles works nicely to produce a few cool visual sequences.

The soundtrack consists of a pleasant incidental score and a rock version of the main theme, performed by Green Day. Perhaps the most memorable piece of music is the use of Marge and Homer's "theme" (the Carpenters' "Close to You.") Overall, it's a bit sparse musically, but as with the boundary-pushing gags, less may be better than too much. Still, I wouldn't have minded the town of Springfield breaking into spontaneous song, at least once.

Its rare that I can say this about a modern film, but at 87 minutes, I felt that "Simpsons" was too short! An extra 20 minutes or so would have allowed for further plot development , and some of the issues left up in the air as the credits rolled could have been better resolved.

"The Simpson Movie" has something for every type of fan, and even something for non fans. If I were to compare the film to the progression of the series, I'd say the humor is of late-90's-era quality (a little broader and zanier than "classic" Simpsons humor , but still solid and clever.) The story and direction, however, remind me of something from the earliest season(s) of the show, with steady pacing, blatant morality, and character-driven plot. This movie is not for very young children (I wouldn't take any kid under 11 or so.) If you don't like or cannot appreciate subverted and "irreverent" humor, this may not be the film for you. But if you've ever enjoyed the the Simpsons family, you will enjoy "The Simpsons Movie."

[Philip Cheesesteak]

If it's possible, I'd like to change mine from a 4.5/5 to a 3/5. Dunno what I was thinking, I must've been blinded by the anticipation.

[skittlebrau]

Done and done.

[cars01]

Fantastic 4.5/5 well worth the wait. I want to see it over and over.

[Cartoonnetwork]

I've been rewatching some scenes from the movie in youtube. I have to admit the emotional scenes are a tad better in english than they were dubbed. The motel scene is interesting, cause Homer has about the same amount of likeable and offensive lines there. I guess this is intentional in order to make us understand why Marge would doubt about staying with him or not. Still I have this concern with Homer's character that he came up as a tad too selfish and maybe a little unsincere. Like when he says Marge later that "I need you to do this with me" is the stupidest thing he has ever heard, it's not that bad as a joke to compensate the cliche feeling of the scene (I would agree with Veryjammy that them offering their hand to each other is the kind of stuff we have seen in a hundred of Hollywood movies before), but what's the real meaning of it? Either Homer is too dumb to remember that was his line or he didn't really mean it when he said it the first time. Was he really sorry or he was pretending to be sorry to avoid the guilt?

I guess that kind of ambiguity is actually interesting and a sign of well-thought writing, but I can't help but thinking that Homer in classic era was usually less selfish and would listen to what his family tried to say, at least in serious situations, though he could be too lazy or selfish to understand Marge's or Lisa's artistic motivations, for example. But he normally would not be so self confident that Marge is going to forgive him either way and he wouldn't certainly take advantage of that when he knew Marge was really worried.

My other concern is about the whole "transformation" thing. A regular Simpson conflict, for example family conflicts in classic era, would show Homer doing something wrong for understandable reasons, normally related to lazyness or stupidity and more rarely selfinesh, reasons that were often very common in human nature. Then he would try his best to fix them and finally, he would success, though not always with the best methods. This basic scheme can be applied in the movie too, especially concerning Bart's subplot, but the difference is that in classic era he was normally flawed AND likeable during the whole thing. We could symphatize with him when he made the mistake as much as we could when we have learnt the lesson. What I try to say is that I don't thing Homer has to "change" to get better, cause I think he's good enough the way he is, only sometimes he has the chance or ability to show it. Suggesting he has to change or transform during a spiritual trip seems like a little moralistic and conservative message and something more similar to the message in other animated movies. The spiritual journey thing is more existential than the regular Simpson story (even in Misterious Voyage the actual conflict seemed more relatable). It kinda fit well with the big-scale focus of the movie but on the other hand what made The Simpsons special in the first place was the everyday nature of their conflicts. I'm not saying I wanted exclusively a season 2 type of conflict for the movie (though it could have been great) but the emotional part didn't need to be as "big" as the dome story.

So to sum up, I actually think the emotional part of the movie is well written. And I kinda find it more interesting the more I analize it. But it's kind of a big scale redemption thing that is more prominent in other movies, it's , no doubt, better written, but maybe another approach would have been more adequate in order to show The Simpsons individuality.

[luben]

maybe another approach would have been more adequate in order to show The Simpsons individuality.

Yeah.

[SimpsonsFan89]

I liked the movie. I might even argue that it is even better than some of the TV episodes that have aired lately. The Itchy & Scratchy bit at the beginning was hilarious, and I also like the thousand-eyed squirrel.

[Dental Plan!]

I might even argue that it is even better than some of the TV episodes that have aired lately.

I think everyone here would agree with that.

[Papo]

Reading this awesome thread makes me realize that there is much more to the Simpsons movie than what I had thought. Great movie, one of the year´s best. 4.5\5

[Tinted]

I think this is the only movie that I really want to see again in the cinema. And everytime I watch it on youtube, I'm suprised about how great the Homer characterisation in this. He was selfish, he was an arsehole, but I felt for him and liked him the whole way through. He hasn't been this endearing for such a long period of time since Season 7.

[CousinMerl]

Delete.

[NJ Pete]

Side noote this movie is still showing 7 times a day on avg PER a THEATRE here in South Jersey

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

They have taken this movie out of every theater in NYC.

[KoenSoontjens]

They have taken this movie out of every theater in NYC.

that's weird.