The Simpsons Movie Review

Rating: 9/10 (29 November 2007)

It has been 20 years since the yellow family was first introduced onto television And since then, over 400 episodes have been made in over 18 seasons. So with many other pieces of television now arriving on the big screen, it seems natural that The Simpsons Movie should be made. Now first of all, we have been waiting for years for this film to come out and I can easily say that I have managed to stay away from some of the hype. But I must complain, I wish they didn't make so many dramatic trailers to make me think "Oh no, this film is going to be as unfunny as the current seasons". So why have I given this a 9/10 star rating? First of all, the movie has been developed by some of the series's finest writers and there has been endless redrafts and altered scripts. Also, to have this movie directed by The Simpson's best Director, David Silverman, seems ideal. Again, the familiar voice artists give us their best to bring our favourite characters to life and the animation has never looked better. The Simpsons has also appropriately been given a more visually cinematic approach (with a widescreen presentation and a complete score by Hans Zimmer) and still with the same feeling that this is the Simpsons and not just a comedy movie.
So, where do I begin? Well first of all, is it funny? Well there is a joke under every minute, so yes! It is funny! But it isn't just funny, but it is very cleverly written, both in a verbally and visually way. But there is one big question, is it just a 22 minute episode transfered into the form of a feature-Lenght movie? Well first of all, the movie obviously doesn't take itself seriously. For example, in the beginning scene, in which the Simpsons are in a theatre watching an Itchy & Scratchy movie, and Homer stands up and says something like "I can't believe that we're paying for something that we could watch for free" (the same with the Simpsons). Also, somewhere in the beginning of the movie, we see a random piece of advertisement on the bottom of the screen which includes 'Yes, we now advertise in films too!' which again is suggesting that it is still a piece of television. All that is funny but on a certain level, this film has been criticised for being no more than a feature-Lenght episode. In some way, I agree, but perhaps it could be the fact that the series itself is epic. Most cartoons are television are purely normal and stay on normal television expectation, so when a movie of it does come out, it goes on an epic scale and the audience is surprised by this and that be why this film has been criticised. But the Simpsons, as a series, is not like any cartoons, it has always been epic in many ways and that's why it is unique and special. The film is just an extension to the epic scale that the series has. Also people say that the film is simply split into three sections, a hilarious beginning, a slow middle (in this case, the scenes in Alaska) and an epic, satisfying ending. This is true, however because this film continuously funny in many different ways, you don't easily understand this idea until you've seen the entire film.
As I said in my Transformers film, I was expecting this to be bad and Transformers to be excellent. Instead, Transformers was the disappointment and, despite watching it in a dreadful cinema, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It is a breath of fresh air from the declining quality of the current seasons (despite some decent episodes occasionally). I thought it was good, decent, funny and very satirical in some parts. Good, decent, funny, satirical- those are the simple descriptions that has always made up the Simpsons, and that is why this exactly what this film is and that is why it works for me.