The glaring faults of any movie become transparent when you laugh so hard at it

Rating: 7/10 (1 October 2007)

In what has perhaps been one of the drollest and most insipid summers in recent Hollywood history, it is not surprising that the "saviour" of the cineworld would turn out to be those weird, squiggly-lined, yellow folk from the tellybox. Yes it's The Simpsons movie, or rather, at last it is The Simpsons' movie, for we have waited many a full moon (and many cries of D'oh!, most of which from me whilst watching the latest series) for Matt Groening, James L. Brooks et al to finally enlighten us as to what Springfield's finest would add to grand old experience of the cinema. Indeed, that curiosity slowly but severely began to wain, with every passing series of The Simpsons becoming even more depressing than the last. As a huge mark for the programme I felt increasingly concerned about the motivation for diluting what was once the pinnacle of television programmes into a sad pantomime of its former self. Homer, despite being wackier than ever, was no longer funny. And Bart, ever the smart mouthed rebel, was just not cool anymore. Had the series lost its edge? Or was it just impossible to keep up the unenviable task of maintaining the quality of the greatest TV sitcom of all time? All the reasons questioned are valid, but milking the cashcows that are The Simsons means that long after their peak (a good solid decade now) we are still enduring our yellow friends deep into the 21st century. Like any great pugilist staggering on his last legs, The Simpsons refused to stop running, even after its creator, Matt Groening, left the show. So forgive me for approaching The Simpsons Movie with considerable trepidation.
So given the stigma of what The Simpsons had become still fresh in my mind, I am proud to say I entered the screening with an open mind. And despite what any expectations were, despite how sick I had grown of hearing Homer or Bart belt out yet another token catchphrase, in the 87 minutes I spent in and around Springfield that night, I laughed harder at the movie then I had at any movie seen this year. And it isn't hard to explain why. The writing is back. The team that made the Simpsons what it is reminded me of what made the series great. It is politically savvy, boisterously inventive and the stupid jokes are actually smartly played. The movie doesn't rely on audiences trusting Homer's reputation enough to laugh at anything he says. When a character makes you laugh, it is because they are are funny, not because of nostalgia. Even silly jokes that don't mean anything like the now infamous "Spider pig" have a sense of investment behind the delivery.
And all of this is crucial, because as far as the story goes, The Simpsons Movie is as mundane and formulaic as the dumbest Hollywood blockbuster around. There is little room for Lisa's new found romance to mean anything, and Bart's desire for fatherly support in spite of his own will seem recycled to regular Simpsonites and clichéd to the uninitiated. It is also worth pointing out that the movie fails to fully realise the potential of the cinematic medium, with only the score, and an abundance of undercooked character cameos (Mr Burns only gets two scenes!) failing to convince the cinema that it belongs there. And yet none of this matters much, for you will be laughing too hard to care. The important thing is that faith has been rightly restored in a series that had stubbornly refused to get off the TV train when the lights were still on. But smiling at the word "Doh!" for the first time in years is something worth forgiving for all its faults.