Rate & Review: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

[90'sCartoonMan]

I saw the movie last night, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. It was such an amazing experience, actually seeing a Simpsons movie, and it being like a "best of" in terms of past eras. I gave it a 4.5, and I left the theatre knowing the movie will only get better in rewatches.

The plot was done very well. A lot of the time, it will feel like an episode didn't devote enough time to flesh out a plot and give it a logical conclusion, but we have everything in here. We see different sides of Lisa and Bart (making them look more in character than they've been in years), Marge has an understandable conflict, Homer gets to be a hero, and Maggie is funnier than she's ever been. The only drawback is past (and probably future) episodes where Homer is selfish or Marge considers leaving Homer pales in comparison to how it was done here. I also like that they set things up like the sinkhole and the motorcycle thing to be paid off later.

The length was a bit of a problem. Because it was so short (and they spent some time away from the town), we didn't get to see all of Springfield. I was kind of surprised at how many sets/environments were absent. The church was there (was it just me or did it look smaller?), but the inside of Springfield Elementary, the Kwik-E-Mart, and the power plant were all kind of shafted. Then there are the characters. It's nice to try and spot who you can recognize, but when some characters get lines and others don't, it leaves you wondering. Why does Cookie Kwan get to speak while Jasper, Sanjay, Sherri and Terri, Kirk, Miss Hoover, and a dozen others don't?

I'm actually wondering if people like Moe/Wiggum/Comic Book Guy/Cletus were given larger than average roles because Hank Azaria was sort of the odd man out (Harry Shearer got plenty of lines as Flanders and Schwarzenegger). Did they want to balance things out or something? Speaking of voice actors, it was great that Joe Mantegna got a little something to do as Fat Tony. I was hoping he and Jan Hooks would be in the movie since they're my favorite recurring actors.

I've probably got more to say about the movie, but all in all, it was funny, beautifully animated, heartfelt (loved that they used "Close To You"), and a wonderful experience to this longtime fan of the show.

[Simpsons Forever!]

This is from the other thread when I saw it on the 25th:

"Saw it just now and I really liked it, actually. I had low expectations and didn't want it to be a flop, but once I got into the actual cinema and it started, they were suddenly on the big screen and I just thought "Whoa!" The audience were really great, they laughed almost all the way through and really burst out at some gags. Loved the atmosphere, maybe that's what made it feel better than a Simpsons episode. Plot was pretty straightforward, could've seen more of the town overall, but it allowed for dramatic scenes, which, unfortunately just won't look the same on DVD. Homer and Plopper were fantastic and SLH's "I did things a dog should never do." - Brilliant! It would definitely need a re-watch, though, I'm sure there was loads I missed. An improvement on recent seasons, but I wouldn't say better than the classics.

Can't think of anything I didn't like, but I thought it was kind of sad Tom Hanks appeared where Troy McClure should certainly have been. And no Patty, Selma, Sideshow Bob, Kang, Kodos and loads of other characters. Maybe they're in there somewhere? Disappointed they ended on a Homer pain gag and Maggie speaking at the end could have been used in the actual Movie to much more effect, rather than just "Sequel?" Animation stunning, of course, but I didn't really see the point of them visiting Alaska, other than just that - to make it look good on-screen. One of my favourite parts was the Homer and Marge scene with the animals - their expressions were absolutely hilarious. Too bad there wasn't a proper song.

Well, that's about all I can think of at the moment - I'll definitely see it again while it's out."

Going again today actually, so after the first viewing, I'll rate it 4.5/5

[California Prunes]

Saw it yesterday. Really enjoyed it. Very well done, if slighly flawed movie. Extremely tired right now, will write a full review either tonight or tomorrow. B+

[Adam R]

Whoa, we're finally here. After years of waiting, The Simpsons Movie is finally here. Was it worth the wait?

The first thing that I (and presumably most others) immediately noticed is how damn fantastic the film looked. I'm sure there's a bunch of anti-CGI nerds that will be unhappy with the use of computers in this films, but when the results are this good, there's no arguing with it for sure. The colours are so vibrant and shadows and contrast are used brilliantly. My favourite thing about the animation is how loose it looks. It's cartoony, yet retains enough the realism the show needs.

But of course, the film can be aesthetically pleasing without being any good, the plot matters. The first thing I noticed about the plot, is how long it seemed to take to get off. As most fans know, the first act is often an unrelated, elaborate set up in modern episodes. While the plot isn't quite like that here, it takes a good while before you feel that the plot has taken off. However, while the plot doesn't seem to be in full swing, the foundations of it are clearly being delicately laid to set up what happens later. At this stage there are no hints as to which direction the film is headed, but I think it gives the opening a nice casual feel. From here, the film's plot is fairly straightforward. To be honest, I think the main outline of the film is fairly disjointed, if only because of the move to Alaska. The film gets sidetracked because of this for far longer than it should. I know that it's a key device to divide Homer and Marge, but I don't think splitting them up was particularly necessary. It disrupts the film's flow, which aside from this, is very good. The extra time is used very well to progress the story mostly. Even when the story gets lost in the move to Alaska, the progression is natural and steady. The film's emotional storyline worked quite well in contrast to the adventure of the main storyline, however I can't help but think it wasn't quite that natural. It seemed to be quite fully developed, but it's a bit "too Hollywood" really, right down to the riding off into the sunset. One thing that I think was handled fairly well was the the environmental theme. It wasn't as prominent as I imagined, by about the half way point of the film, it seemed to have subsided in favour of family conflict, but I think this worked well because the movie could've easily been ruined had it been too overbearing. The film's climax is a fairly standard scenario of a character having to risk himself to save others, which would've been slightly disappointing had it not been fairly engaging and a fitting end considering the rest of the plot. So overall, the plot was steady and engaging, but nothing spectacular.

Which more or less leads me into my biggest criticism of this film and the main reason in which I think the film was slightly disappointing. The plot seemed to be fairly standard. I mean, it was executed well for what it was, but it just wasn't Simpsons to me. Adapting 20 minutes to 80 minutes is a hard thing to do and to be very honest, I'm not entirely sure they succeeded in doing that. It just seems to me like only the basic character traits were taken from the source material an adapted to fit a big screen adventure. The entire plot seemed liek the writers were trying to write a generic summer blockbuster for "the whole family!" (ie, children and their parents). No doubt this is a huge part of the audience though. Maybe it's just because I saw it at a 2:30pm showing, but the cinema was filled with this demographic. The Simpsons was always a show that everyone appreciated in some level, but never a "family" show. The movie fails to really capture the former as much as it does the latter. There's no denying it's an enjoyable movie, but I can't help but feel that the writers turned a blind eye to the show's roots at least partially.

So possibly the most important part of the movie is the jokes. The jokes were certainly rapid, at least a few a minute throughout the whole film, which is nice to see considering the current show. But certainly, quality is more important than quantity. To me, the jokes were really a mixed bag. One of my favourite jokes was Bart drawing on the poster and the other family getting arrested. It was maybe a bit obvious and rehashed, but it's a nice reminder of what the show once was. Another amusing scene was the animals undressing Homer and Marge, it was a scene that seemed to show The Simpsons' way of playing with other types of media and it was just a nice scene (although I think the animals looking scared at the end wasn't executed as best as it could've been). And of course I couldn't forget the "mad with power" line, this is probably the best line to come from the show in a long time for me. There were more jokes that worked, but there was also several more that failed. For one thing, I think the pain gags were too numerous. Some were well executed (hammer in the eye), but they were just a bit too numerous and some of them were just as painful to watch (crotch glue, I just thought this was really stupid). I think a lot of these were just easy laughs from the kids in the audience, which is OK, but it was clumsy because of how numerous they were. However, the very worst jokes were the ones in which the writers hopelessly tried to appeal to teens and young adults, possibly as some attempt to broaden the appeal. And by that, I mean most of the ones involving the word "gay", "boobs" or anything along those lines. Two that strike me as particularly bad are Ralph saying he likes men and "if you shake it more than twice, it counts as playing with yourself". It was just kinda embarrassing for the film to stoop that low for laughs. While the humour was mixed, some of it may have worked well had the execution been better. Poor execution was probably the only quality that the film retained from current episodes. The joke pacing is way too fast throughout the film, with a lot of jokes being way off because of timing. One that springs to mind is the "to be continued... immediately" joke. The "immediately" is too quick and "to be continued" appears for too long. Compare it to the almost identical joke in the Spin Off Showcase episode and you'd notice how much funnier that is. But maybe that's not the best example, since it's not spoken. At first, I thought I was being too picky with this, but last night while I was eating, an old episode was playing in the background (I think it was Lisa's Rival) and the joke execution was noticeably so much better. The joke pacing interferes with the humour way too often in the movie.

Now for the characters. The biggest problem with the characters is Homer. I'm not accusing him of being a jerk or anything, to me he is just grossly simplified. He's just a big, dumb, loud hero, which makes him hard to tolerate throughout much of the film. Much like the plot of the film, he is fairly generic in order to easily please an audience. In contrast, Marge was perfect. Free of any traits that had made her easy to dislike in the series, this was pretty much "classic" Marge. The story seemed to centre on her almost as much as it did on Homer, which is nice because it contrasted well. And of course, I have to mention the scene in which she was crying on the video tape. For me this was undoubtedly the best acting on Marge ever. Props to Kavner and now that I think about it, Marge's voice was the best it had been in years. I wouldn't hold Bart in such high regard, but he was definitely an improvement over what he has been recently. He wasn't quite as witty as he has been in the past, but his conflict with Homer was handled nicely. I'm not too sure on Lisa, I don't think she was prominent enough in the movie, which was unfortunate. On the other hand, her story was easily the least interesting of the families, so perhaps it's a good thing that they didn't use her more if that's how they were going to use her. Out of the side characters, Flanders stood out to me as being used the best. Tolerant and caring, he plays a great opposite to Homer that hasn't been seen in years. They even managed to have a joke about him deriding Buddhism that didn't make him look like an over the top Christian nut. Despite a small role, the worst side character was Ralph. His lines were reminiscent of his "crazy" Jean self, opposed to the classic "dim" Ralph. I guess I just have a little bit of an attachment to Ralphie, seeing as he's one of my favourite characters. The only other notable side character problem was Burns. He just should've been much more prominent, especially considering the fact that the environmental theme crosses path with his power plant so often.

So overall, I think there's a lot of fun to be had with this movie, but it's more or less just an entertaining summer blockbuster. As a spin off of the show, it's not as faithful to how the show was originally as it could've been.
C+ 3 STARS

[Homer the Moe]

copied and pasted from the uk/australian thread;

that was so much better than i was expecting.
the characterisation was excellent; the best in the show for years. homer was loveable, marge was in character, bart was mischievous but kind-hearted, lisa was smart and environmentally-concious, and maggie was excellent. actually, i thought maggie was hilarious.
i can't really think of many bad parts that stood out - the whole storyline flowed really well, and nothing dragged. the ending was good, too, and it really didn't feel at all padded out. the only downside was the length - the film started at 1pm, and finished by half 2, with adverts included.
there were several laugh-out-loud moments, even though my cinema was full of annoying children that laughed at anything >_< even the 'bart's doodle' joke was handled tastefully, and got a good laugh. and i'm really glad they kept in the ralph bit at the start.
one of the things that annoyed me a bit was i thought that the subplots were very underdeveloped; and considering the film was so short, there was plenty of time to develop them more.
for example, we never really see much of the colin that lisa has fallen in love with - he has about one or two scenes, and for that to be considered a subplot is a bit of a letdown.
the ned/bart story was really touching - although i didn't like some of the hints in the alaska section; for example, i hated the drunk bart saying he preferred flanders - the cinema was dead during that, and i felt it could've been done so much better. and, the whole storyline expanded! because flanders was in excellent form.
and the homer/marge relationship story was really touching and was done amazingly better than in the current seasons. the video was very emotional.
what people have been saying about this "return to the classic era" is nothing - i genuinely think that this nivue can start a completely new era, taking the show onwards and upwards with the same loveable characters and charm that has brought it this far.

overall, i would give the movie a very credible four-and-a-half out of five, because it is very entertaining and pretty much everything is spot on. however, it isn't five-star because of it's length, and the lack of development as far as the subplots are concerned.

oh, and i have a gripe with the daily mail's review - it criticised the characterisation (which was absolutely perfect) and said that it felt padded out, when it wasn't even 90 minutes long. they make me cringe.

[kupomog]

DNS, I'm looking at you.

Wasn't him.

[Keith2004]

Some of you have some really looooooong reviews......and while i respect your comicbook guy-like attention to detail...i am glad that even tho ive seen almost all episodes many times, i can enjoy the movie for what it is and ment to be without Over-analitical details plauging my mind and killing the Humor :-O

[kid_presentable]

I'm not much for long winded reviews. I'll just say that this movie was everything I hoped it would be. I was left with a feeling of awe. Seeing OFF on the big screen with a good story executed exceptionally well, great season 5-ish rapid fire jokes (which had a very low miss percentage) made me happier with the show than I've been in years. Seeing this movie gives me so much hope for the future of the show (however much more show there'll be). My first thoughts upon the end of the movie were "Wow. They did it. I can't believe they did it." They pulled off a fantastic, funny, fun movie and I loved it. I loved every minute of it. It's been 18 long years (about 12 I can remember) but it's finally here and it's great.

5/5

[Henrik P]

0/5

It was the worst movie ever.


Just joking. It was 5/5

[aoife]

No fighting in this thread, guys.

[kupomog]

Board divide complaints are fun. If I really need to, I will post a new image every whenever-I-view-this.

[Dental Plan!]

It wasn't a good idea to post that.....really, trust me. Thanks, though . I know at least one user that has been found out.....

[kupomog]

I'd rather publicize the votes than have people throw around accusations just because the poll wasn't made public in the first place. And anyone voting for spiteful reasons or to cause trouble, like zero-post users, deserve to be outed, anyway.

So anyone thinking they can come and screw the poll up for their own amusement should probably scrap those plans right now unless they want a one-way ticket to the Land of Wind and Ghosts.

[Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland]

My zero vote wasn't serious. I'm seeing it this monday. I'm expecting a decent 3/5 rating.

[Itchy]

Sorta allready said this, but since they closed that thread I'll give it a try here to.
It was good, but not great.
The President Schwarzenegger thing was kinda odd. Did Rainier Wolfcastle change his name and become president? Or does Arnold look exactly like Mc Bain in the Simpsons universe? They should've given us a bit of explanation about that. I also felt that the president's assistant would've worked better with Sideshow Bob instead of creating a new character. Cause that was one of the major things I disliked about the film, no good villain. Another possible better solution would've been to give Burns more screentime and made him one of the main evildoers of the film.
I felt the Homer trying to win back Marge's love because she left him for acting like an idiot thing has already been done to many times before. It's something we've seen almost as often as Scratchy begin killed.
Needless to say, the appearance of annoying later season characters such as Crazy cat lady and Lindsay Neagle was something i hated as well. Why couldn't one of them gotten killed instead of Dr. Nick? Luckly they weren't given to much screentime tough.
Various B-stories not begin developed very much like Lisa's new boyfriend or why the pig dissapeared. (Maybe he was killed when the house was destroyed)

But what I did like about it was:
The special opening for the film, which apart from the absence of a couch gag
was great.
Various jokes and references (Homer calling us suckers for paying to see the movie, Green Day getting killed, Comic Book guy using Marge's pregnancy pants, the Disney-like animals, Grand Theft Walrus and a bunch of others.
The wonderful quality of the animation and colours.
Martin getting revenge on the bullies.
References to earlier episodes (Gabbo, Moe calling Marge Midge, Homer jumping over Springfield gorge etc)

[Binky]

My zero vote wasn't serious. I'm seeing it this monday. I'm expecting a decent 3/5 rating.

You know you can't change your vote, right?

[Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland]

Blahblah oldgil blablablah

You know you can't change your vote, right?

I guess.

[kupomog]

As far as I know, Moebius didn't join this site recently for the sole purpose of down-voting a poll without ever seeing it. He's going to watch the movie, he's probably going to review it. If he wants I will switch his vote out accordingly to fix a dumb joke. The only reason he gets that is because he explained himself and it's safe to assume he's not some sockpuppet troll, which I would think would be more worrying.

[Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland]

Ok, thanks kupo. Yeah sorry about that, it was too much of a gamefaqs thing I did, when you vote in a poll that doesn't really concern you, but you vote for a game you've never played anyway, cause you can. I shouldn't have done that here seeing as this is more official and serious. If you don't mind, I'll change the my vote monday night, or tuesday morning! No hard feelings I hope.

[gonzo]

If you don't mind, I'll change the my vote monday night, or tuesday morning! No hard feelings I hope.

Oh they were hard MFM, they were hard.. :angry:

[Bumblebee_Man]

I'm just glad to see that most fans on here enjoyed it.

[kupomog]

If you don't mind, I'll change the my vote monday night, or tuesday morning! No hard feelings I hope.

Okay, PM me or another mod when you want it changed just in case.

[Rhodan]

It´s a big 4/5 from me.
I loved all the gags and various self-referencing hints utilitasing movie format(which probably won´t be so good on VHS/DVD but that´s a life). Even there though I have some strong objections - Granpa´s crazy scene in the church was totally out of place and too long"wanted" poster kept me giggle but it semed too familliar.
Besides that as much this movie was great gagfest, it´s story was never too much concern to begin with for writers as I saw which disappointed me. Main conflict felt sorta like videogame, Bart vs. Homer and Homer vs. Marge didn´t feel too natural, altough there were sweet Flanders moments which I loved. Lisa´s love felt kinda pointless so I hope we´ll get more of colin the future.And I sincerely hope that if there´ll be sequel, we´ll get more springfiled characters interacting.
Still, definitely one of the funniest movies I´ve ever seen in my life.

[Wall E. Weasel]

no-one who genuinely understands what made the simpsons great can truly say they enjoyed the movie.

it might not be as bad as the worst of the scully era but it's pretty awful. the characterisation is two-dimensional, the plot is too far-fetched and the sentimentalism forced.

[JHelsius]

Yes! Yes! Yes! That pretty much sums up my feelings about this film. Most definatly worth the wait. There were times in this movie were I couldn't stop laughing(Bart's "doodle", Grand Theft Walrus). I really loved the Titanic parody with Green Day. Harry Plopper was hilarious too. All around this is exactly what Simpsons fans have been waiting for. 5/5 No question about it.
Funniest lines- (After seeing Bart naked) Ralph "I like boys now." Pure gold!

[vxt22]

It was great. I found myself laughing at many different types of jokes, sometimes as the only one in the theater doing so.

I loved the church and Moe's crew switching places. Tom Hanks had for me the pinnacle lines in the whole movie. The whole thing was fantastic. I gave it a four or an 8.5, mainly because I want more, and because there was a little too much of Homer and his slapstick. As I say though, a good mix of jokes, and fantastic use of homer in his own little world. I thought the fat man was characterized fantastically.

[Tomacco]

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

[Envelope]

And this most pompus and stupid comment so far is.........

no-one who genuinely understands what made the simpsons great can truly say they enjoyed the movie.

You sir, speak in fallacy.

[Homercentric]

5/5 This movie was GREAT! I was soooooooooo relieved about how good it was. The theatre was cracking up the entire time and I felt the emotional parts worked very well. This movie was even funnier then I expected and I am VERY satisfied with the result. I applaud The Simpsons, FUCKING AWSOME!!

[D DEBBS]

My jaws are ACHING 'cuz I was laughing too much!


The people who saw the movie with me were singing the 'Spider-Pig' song the moment it came on!

5/5!