This past weekend my wife and I saw the Simpson's movie.For starters, I enjoyed it.
I appreciated the fact that it kept the integrity of having the feel of the regular 20-odd minute fox cartoon television show.
And yet at the same time it kept me interested and entertained for the whole 80-odd minutes of film.
Yet at the same time, the film was not so spectacularly entertaining that I would ever want to own it, quote it, rewatch it, or encourage someone else that "they needed to see it."
Rather, the movie lacks that special "zesto!" that sometimes makes the Simpson's so unique. There was very little surprisingly smart commentary (the stuff with the EPA, Tom Hanks, and a brief Hilary Clinton inclusion was fun but limited), and the special guest voicing was fairly limited as well (although Albert Brooks was fantastic as Russ Cargill, the head of the EPA).
Yet at the same time, when the Simpson's hit the air in 1989 it was a very unique show, that many people have special memories of (which came out yesterday, even in the comments, of my post about The Simpsons Sing the Blues).
It is probably for these feelings of sentimentality and the integrity of the general nature of the program (and creative marketing) that has made the Simpson's movie have a very successful opening weekends, and a ridiculously high rating on imdb.com (yesterday the #44 movie of all time, currently a little more reasonable score at #66, but still very inflated).
Anyways, glad I saw it, but you won't hear me saying "you have to see it."
Related Tags: The Simpsons, Advertising, Box Office, Albert Brooks, Tom Hanks, Cartoon, Movie
3 comments:
Tell me you weren't on the floor in hysterics when Bart was skateboarding naked...
Best line, "He's not Spider Pig anymore, he's Harry Plopper now."
Best moment. End of the world is coming. Everybody from the church runs to the bar. Everybody from the bar runs to the church. There's a blog in that moment, somewhere... if only someone would get the courage to write it...
Doesn't beat Transformers for best summer movie, but it's got me watching the Simpsons on TV again...
Good review. Not sure I agree, but at least you had good reasons for what you wrote. I have found many reviews to have been almost "pre-written," which aggravates me. To you, sir, three cheers and a pudding-pop!
To tell the truth, I have to admit that if the movie is better than the episodes of the past few years, I'd be happy. I love The Simpsons, but it seems to me that it's not what it once was. If the movie is entertaining, that would be enough for me, although I would hope for something that would approach the quality and energy of the early episodes.
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