I cannot be counted among the millions of people of have one time or another been a huge fan of the Simpsons. I never really understood why so many found it to be so funny and after South Park and Family Guy started I couldn't understand why people still watched it. Outside of the special Halloween episodes and the countless amount of big name guest stars, I just never saw the appeal of it, so I wasn't particularly interested in a big screen adaptation that seemed about 10 yrs too late to begin with. However, the trailer had a few funny bits and with the promise of seeing the first teaser for The Dark Knight, I decided I was in. So, am I now a Simpsons fan? Do I now understand why so many people love Homer, Bart and all the others? Well read on to find out.
I shall begin with what little story there is in this thing. The story centers around Homer, the clueless Patriarch of this insane family. He won't listen to his wife and he humiliates his son at every possible turn. Now, he has caused Springfield to be put in a giant bubble due to the insane pollution in the city and he is also going to be responsible when Springfield gets blown up and it is up to him to save it and prove to his family and friends that he is worth their time, love and effort. Not a very interesting story if you ask me, which is where this movie starts to fall. The basic story just doesn't grab my attention so I must rely on all the bits to hold my attention and this movie starts of strongly with the bits but as the movie delves further into pushing the plot forward the bits get less and less funny.
The bits begin during the opening credits as Homer insults us for paying to see the movie of something we can watch on T.V for free. We get a pretty hilarious Itchy and Scratchy "movie" and then we are off to our actual movies. Homer and Bart are on the roof and Homer hits himself with a hammer and it causes Bart to trade dares with his dad. Bart eventually is skateboarding through Springfield naked relying on a bunch of sight gags that were more creative and more effective in Austin Powers, using every day objects to hide a naked body part. The joke eventually becomes that we get an actual shot of Bart's penis. Bart gets arrested and tied to a tree while naked and Homer doesn't do anything to help. This is what leads Bart to thinking Flanders might just be a better father. Add to the mix that Homer has a new pet pig (the best bit in the movie is "spider-pig") and doesn't know where to put the pig crap, so he creates a giant Silo to put the crap in. When it fills up he dumps it in the lake and it erupts into a giant toxic wasteland. Oh and Lisa is up to her usual wanting to save the planet business, but now she has a love interest.
Most of the side characters are not written into the movie much and it is a bit mind boggling because this show is successful because of its quirky characters. Also, only one big name celebrity voice shows up and while it is totally worth it, I just expected more. I really thought the first 30 to 40 minutes of side gags worked. I laughed when FOX promoted a show, even during the movie and I thought some of the other side stuff worked, but after a while I was just over the whole thing. This movie didn't take the risks South Park took when it went to the big screen and so it seems like just an inflated Simpsons episode and wasn't really worthy of a movie version. Maybe the show is funny in 20 minute segments, but this movie does not do anything to convince I should even waste my time trying to watch it. Oh and the Dark Knight trailer wasn't even attached!
1 comment:
The whole joke at the beginning of the movie about people being stupid for pying for something they get for free on TV, is a very Simpson's joke though. They are always biting the hand that feeds them, which is why that joke was accepted by most people.
The South Park Movie (my personal perference) was the exact same way though: only people who liked the TV show would like the movie. It brought in no new fans. It was ALSO very self aware of what it was doing. In fact, it was more of a comment for people to shut the fuck up about the dirty language kids are using and stop blaming it on TV.
I'm sure both movies brought in new fans, truthfully, but not many. People see TV movies because they liked the TV show.
Do I think that The Simpsons Movie could have been a 4 part TV episode? No. If you broke it up, it wouldn't have the same impact nor would you be able to do some of the gags they did.
Truthfully though, nowadays you CAN'T watch The Simpsons like that on TV for free since the show has gone to shit. Now you have to shell out 30 dollars a season to see The Simpsons that funny, and no Simpsons episode was as wall to wall funny as the movie.
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