The other night, I saw The Simpsons Movie with Marc and some of his economist colleagues. Going in, I thought it more likely to be a disaster than a triumph. I was pleased to find my pessimism largely unjustified. While it did involve a lot of the same awkward and improbable gimmickry of the later episodes, the film was well speckled with fully deserved laughs. It also revealed federal environmental bureaucracies for the villainous and malicious entities they truly are.
Simpsons fans avoiding the film for fear it will be terrible should gird themselves to have a look; those without a long-standing appreciation for the show will probably be better off steering clear.
A wonderfully smart, witty film that rescues Hollywood from the doldrums
Most of the reviews out there are more positive than yours.
The Simpsons have always been about “awkward and improbable gimmickry.”
R.K,
Can you really say that about the first 2 seasons? When real moral lessons were the order of the day?
Real moral lessons? I think they were more about clever observations, and social satire than any conclusive lessons.
Although.. there are several heart warming conclusions in the years of the early series that the newer episodes are bereft of.
… how did Snowball die again?
As I recall, the first few seasons were quite depressing. I particularly remember an episode where Homer decides to commit suicide by tying a huge rock to himself and jumping off a bridge.
They make quite a contrast to the ‘Simpsons travel somewhere’ and ‘Homer gets a crazy job’ episodes that followed.
“… how did Snowball die again?”
Snowball, also known as Snowball I (1980-1989), was the Simpsons’ first cat. Her death (by car accident – ran over by the mayor’s drunk brother, Clovis) was never seen in the actual series, since it occurred “before” the show’s continuity began.
Much more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowball_(The_Simpsons)
I had seen some scathing reviews from friends, so was rather nervous when I went to see it with a friends whose movie tastes aren’t a great fit with mine. It is entertaining, and focused on environmental issues (though indeed the government agency proves pure evil this is more to do with those at the top than its mandate and raison d’etre). Many jokes are appealingly incisive and relevant to politics today.
The problem for me is, as so often with ‘the film of’ movies, the detrimental exaggeration of character – in this case, the removal all of Homer’s (already few) redeeming features. The film thus lacks the light warmth of the series.
I don’t have a problem with the minor inconsistencies with the past canon, as you expect that to result from the transition to feature film; and I think these were consciously selected.
Pigboy is pretty lame though.
Aargh – too hot and jet lagged to proof read effectively – apologies for grammar and spelling gaffes.
Antonia,
Pig excrement really is incredibly environmentally damaging. Boing Boing covered it months ago. If anything, The Simpsons Movie underrepresented how harmful the substance can be.
They were making reference to this Rolling Stone article.
It all makes me glad I am a vegetarian.
“The way I see it, if you raise three children who can knock out and hog-tie a perfect stranger, you must be doing something right.”