the simpsons movie
well it’s about time, right? it’s been twenty years since the original shorts appeared on the tracy ullman show depicting the dysfunctional greatness that became a television icon when it morphed into a half-hour series two years later. For a cartoon to last that long is unheard of, but even more so is it not having an accompanying film version. south park and family guy both did just that within a few years.
I could go into how the television iteration of simpsons has trailed off and become much less influential, but that has nothing to do with this film. This movie has been in the works for about three years. It’s not bad, but the length of production or at least brainstorming doesn’t show. There are witty asides and a general commentary that comes with the main plot, but it’s more an episode of the simpsons stretched to the length of three.
The story is just as implausible and ridiculous as any episode i’ve seen. the characters aren’t very well developed, but they’ve been around for so long it doesn’t matter. There’s some sharp statements and hilarious secondary stories too. It’s a solid plot and i genuinely laughed out loud pretty often, but it stretched. It dragged for parts and some things just went a little too far for me to get into them.
I can’t speak from recent experience because i’ve stopped watching the show, but it seems to be much of the status quo. there are a couple smart jabs, but i was expecting more with so much time put into the film. And that’s not even mentioning the overwhelming marketing campaign that hit the mainstream a few weeks ago. The money and time invested in this one should have produced a stronger product.
Witty and funny? yes. Edgy? not really. the movie’s not necessarily disappointing, but it falls with a two-dimensional splat below expectations. don’t waste your money picking this one up in the theaters. It’s going to be a much better show on the small screen. But i guess that’s to be expected.
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