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I will readily be the first to admit that going in, I had my reservations about "The Simpsons Movie".
I loved the teaser trailer that was released a year ago, with Homer sitting on his couch stating that they(creators Matt Groening and his cohorts) "better get started" on making the movie. Then, when the first actual trailer came out, I sort of went "hmmm..." and had similar reactions to each subsequent one released. Talk-ing with various friends, we all came to the conclusion that the movie was either going to be really good, or very boring. I was worried.
How foolish of me.
How foolish to think that Matt Groening and James L. Brooks--the creators behind one of the greatest shows ever put on television--would send their baby out to cineplexes across the planet before being certain it could walk. And trust me, this film doesn't just walk--it runs, and rarely slows down.
This is one hell of a great movie.
Even if you're not familiar with the family Simpson: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and baby Maggie(voiced respectively by Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and again Ms. Cartwright--and once on the show by Elizabeth Taylor herself) you'll instantly fall in love with the irreverent humor of this movie, and become deeply engrossed within its plot. There's even a point where, their marriage jeopardized by a greater looming crisis, you'll shed a tear for Homer and Marge.
Yes...tears because of a cartoon movie. Believe it.
No ordinary cartoon universe is this, with its brief ancillary characters tacked on for background. Every secondary character in the nearly 19 year history of the Simpsons' tv series is a fully realized person, and each makes an appearance in the film. Of course, not all of them have speaking roles, and it amazes me when people complain about this; there are some 300 secondary characters within the world of the Simpsons, and it would be both foolish to give them all roles within a 90 minute film, as well as bog down the plot.
And there truly is a plot to be found here. On an ordinary day within the town of Springfield, the community finally becomes aware that their lakes have become full of toxic waste, and an immediate curtail on all dumping within them needs to be instituted immediately. Of course, almost as soon as the law goes into effect, Homer is the one to accidentally tip the scales in pollution's favor. This sets off an alert from the Environmental Protection Agency, which mobilizes by the order of President Arnold Schwarzenegger(voice of Harry Shearer, basically doing a parody not of Schwarzenegger as much as one of the character Rainier Wolfcastle, him-self a parody of Schwarzenegger. Got it?) and under the command of Russ Cargill(voiced by the severely underrated Albert Brooks), a man so desperately insane with power that he places the entire town of Springfield under a transparent dome and has the town subsequently removed from Onstar's directional services.
With the town enraged at Homer for causing their plight, the Simpson family has no choice but to find a way out of the dome and flee to Alaska. It is the choice of whether to stay in Alaska and accept their new lot or return to Springfield and save the town which causes the division between Homer and Marge. As stated before, this is actually a very touching and surprisingly poignant theme within the movie--one of several, in fact...another having to do with what a boy looks for in a father figure. Homer, although a classic loveably bungling idiot, always manages to finally do the right thing. We know that in the end, he'll reconnect with his family and do his best to save the townsfolk because, as he tells his family, "I've really come to like you guys."
And we've come to like you too, Homer. Thanks for being with us all these years, and thanks to Groening, James L. and especially director David Silverman.
How could I have ever doubted you guys?
D'oh!
Finally! A summer movie that lives up to all the hype!
The first family of comedy finally make their way to the big screen.
It's hard being Homer in a yellow man's world.
Yes, all you weirdos who've been asking for it; you finally get to see Bart's "doodle".
The gang's all here(but not everyone gets a speaking part).
Never piss off a baby!
The Simpsons Movie
(Homer's Amazing Odyssey Continues...)
