"The Simpsons Movie" - An event 20 years in the making

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2007)

For those accustomed to watching it on the small screen every weekday night, "The Simpsons Movie" is a long time coming, a motion picture event that's 20 years in the making. I've been watching "The Simpsons" ever since I was a kid growing up during the early 1990s, and I myself have waited for something of this magnitude. The creation of series originator Matt Groening, people who have seen the 400+ episodes of "The Simpsons" know that a movie has been on the table for over a decade, but nothing has ever manifested itself. So, fans just had to revel in one episode after the other, knowing, that one day, their dream of a "Simpsons Movie" would become a reality. And now here we are, 20 years after the cartoon first appeared as a short on "The Tracey Ullman Show" way back in 1987. Groening definitely had a hand in this production, otherwise "The Simpsons Movie" would have sucked big time. Unlike other theatrical adaptations of a television work, nothing has really changed, except that there's a bigger budget, better animation, but the characters are all the same. That makes for great animated cinematic entertainment. It's just nice to finally see a creator in control of his creation for once. Director David Silverman's "The Simpsons Movie" finds America's favorite dysfunctional family the target of a lynch mob after Homer buys a pig, and he disposes of its waste in Springfield Lake, turning the already-heavily polluted lake into a toxic cesspool that causes multiple eyes to sprout on any wildlife that comes into contact with it. To make long stories short, the EPA comes in and seals off Springfield with a massive dome. When it's discovered that Homer is responsible for the Lake Springfield toxic cesspool, he, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are forced to go on the run to Alaska and start over (don't ask how they get out, just watch the movie). EPA man Cargill (voice of Albert Brooks) manages to fool President Schwarzenegger into launching an operation to nuke Springfield so that it becomes a tourist attraction similar to the Grand Canyon, since nothing will be left except for a smoking hole in the ground (actor Tom Hanks does an infomercial on the subject). Marge eventually discovers this and decides to head back to their hometown, sans Homer. Eventually, Homer gets the guts to return as well and save Springfield with his family. I literally could not stop laughing at "The Simpsons Movie." It gets you from the opening scenes (complete with a performance by Green Day) to the time the credits begin to roll. You'll be laughing so hard that you'll be barely able to catch your breath. I know I was laughing so hard that after a while I became tired and it got so that when something funny happened (and those comedic moments come at you left and right), it was strenuous to do so. That's an effect of a truly unique film experience. All of our favorite characters are here, some get more screen time than others (the film's only real weak point), but if that makes you mad, just watch the television show but still, don't hold that against the movie. I could tell that "The Simpsons Movie" definitely satisfied the cravings of my fellow cinema-goers, since their response to the movie was overwhelmingly positive. "The Simpsons Movie" is a simple culmination of 20 years worth of entertainment in 87 minutes. A cultural phenomenon has finally reached its peak and its core fans were overwhelmingly satisfied with a film experience they're not likely to ever forget.
10/10