Not a "D'Oh!" ... Not an "Excellent" either ...

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2012)

More than the film, I remember the event it was. For the first time, the fans were about to see their favorite show in a movie theater. Could you imagine that? Bart, Homer, Marge, Mr. Burns, Moe, Barney, all the Springfield town painting the big screen in a dazzling and bright yellow  that was one movie adaptation no one could ever refuse. A sure hit for the fans, but not necessarily a sure critical success. I think we should all admit that we all watched the film because it was a novelty on itself, and no Simpson fan, no parent of a Simpson fan could miss it, but the certainty of a critical success was more than debatable. The excitement was sincere but so was the apprehension.
Now, after five years, I can't really put my finger exactly in what went wrong in "The Simpsons Movie". In fact, I almost want to say that nothing was wrong; it had the fun, the wit, the satire, the zaniness but also the tenderness, the warmth and the heart of some of the greatest Simpsons' episodes. But when you dilute it in almost one hour and twenty minutes, it loses its spectacular value and you can't help but notice some slower moments plot-wise. Whatever it is, it's exactly why I can't call the film 'great', but just a 'very good' with some great moments. And I didn't even have high expectations take it from a Simpsons' fan.
I didn't expect a lot because like so many hardcore fans (I watch the show almost every day and know hundreds of episodes by heart), I got used to disappointments. As I posted once on IMDb, there was a time when "The Simpsons" were influencing Pop-Culture but now, it's Pop Culture influencing "The Simpsons", the result is not bad, but the episodes are generally hit-or-miss, rarely average, either great or lame. I could picture the Simpsons movie disappointing me, and I kept this feeling as a psychological shield so I could never be truly disappointed enough to abandon my faith over the show's chances of improvement. Talk about negative preconceived ideas but let's say it was just some sort of self-preservation instinct.
But the first minutes were surprisingly hilarious and they really made me lower my guard, the sight of little Ralph Wiggum trumpeting along with the Fox fanfare was very funny and encouraging (too bad, one of the film's highlights started so soon). And it went on with the "Itchy and Scratchy" bit and Homer's self referential accusation. The opening sequence couldn't get more creative with Frink passing along the whispering clouds and saying 'the movie' or Bart writing on the chalkboard that he'll never download this film illegally, I could sit and eat comfortably my popcorn expecting the opening sequence to go until the couch but then suddenly, the film switched with the sight of a unknown pop group singing in a concert. The 'Da-da-da' lip-synching was funny but I thought the cut was too abrupt.
I would have preferred the film to take its time to set-up the film as it does for TV episodes. Maybe it was eager to get to the point, since we all knew everybody and the 'Titanic' reference was very clever. Overall, the film wouldn't start to worry me  not until Grandpa's outburst in the church (which was my first alert) and the whole Spider-pig thing (the fact that we don't see the pig after that, damages the solidity of this plot element) and when I understood that the film would only focus on the family. I thought it was a mistake because the material would have served better for a TV episodes' plot. The film didn't exploit all the possibilities that were offered to it. It didn't even had songs, perfect leverages for most posterity. Remember "South Park", what most people remember from it? The songs.
And the "South Park" movie had at least the merit to feature all the population of the town and make a very clever satire, while "The Simpsons" focused on the family and didn't use the characters the way we'd expect. After all, couldn't Mr. Burns be the main antagonist, the one who'd make this dome on Springfield, he did far worse when he decided to block the sunshine. I also wished there was more Barney, Karl and Lenny, Krusty the Clown, and all the great supporting characters that'd populated the show since 1990, but the movie felt like a concentration of three kind of plots : Homer gets a new job, Homer screws up, Problem in the family, not the best of these recent years.
"The Simpsons" have always been synonyms of smartness, unpredictability, a clever way to be ahead of what we'd expect, it's precisely because I have a tenderness for the show that I felt bad to predict all what was going to happen, the whole redemption of Homer, him reconciling with Bart and all that stuff. I didn't see everything coming, but then again, I never said the movie was disastrous, nor that I was disappointed, simply that it had the potential to be greater than what it actually is. Although I believe it should have been nominated for the Best Animation film Oscar category, if only because it's hand-drawn for once, I don't think the creators wanted to make 'a masterpiece'. Nonetheless, the film is qualitatively good, in the same level than the Simpsons as a TV show in 2007.
But I only wish I could have been more enthusiastic to review this film as I would to one of my favorite episodes.