Incrediddily-bly funny

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2007)

Some people could ask themselves why it took so long, that is almost twenty years, for the Simpsons producers to transform the adventures of the most-known family in America into a full-length animated picture. Some less-popular TV series, such as "South Park", only waited a few years to see a movie based upon their stories. But once we see the final result, complaining is the very last thing possible to do.
Obviously, "The Simpsons Movie" must obey to two crucial rules which are applicable when a movie is based upon a TV series :
1- Never take 90 minutes when 30 minutes are enough.
2- Never modify an important aspect which concerns the characters.
"The Simpsons Movie" owns a characteristic that is even more difficult than other TV series adaptations. Many series from the '60s, such as "The Dukes of Hazzard" and more evidently, "The Fugitive" re-told their whole storyline within two hours. "The Simpsons Movie" shouldn't do that for the series is still aired today.
But "The Simpsons Movie" avoids every trap and presents the best of what it has to offer: an avalanche of gags, satirical sequences and absurd scenes, all packed into an unforgettable 90-minute hilarious adventure.
The movie is extremely well made, the script is tightly built, the characters never lose a bit of their punch and attacks and cheap shots are nicely done. The result is an extremely funny and absurd comedy, a rare gem among the comedy genre.
The characters need no presentation, so let's go to the story. Before going any further, it must be specified that there are many subjects into the storyline, but one of them is more prominent among the story. And this subject is precisely the most tempting for the satirists: politics.
Lake Springfield is becoming so polluted that the situation becomes more and more urgent and the citizens of Springfield have no choice than curing the problem. But as you guessed it, Homer comes ruining everything by dumping a silo full of liquid manure into the lake. The EPA gets involved and the government cuts Springfield from the rest of the world by enclosing the city under an enormous glass dome, just like futuristic cities seen in some works of science fiction.
Able to escape from the inhabitants' fury, the Simpsons flee towards Alaska and try to begin a new life there. But circumstances will do that they will have to save Springfield themselves... as well as their family union.
To be honest, I don't remember having laughed as much while watching a film than with "The Simpsons Movie". Some sequences are so full of gags that we risk of choking ourselves or having a heart attack. I thus decided to stop eating popcorn so it wouldn't happen to me.
The die-hard fans of the TV series won't be disappointed of the film, far from it. The movie makes a good use of recurrent themes talked about for so many years in the TV episodes, such as the Homer-Bart relationship, Lisa falling in love, the marriage of Homer and Marge in crisis, the Simpsons family discovering an exotic place and the city of Springfield vs. the American government. And none of these subjects is misplaced or inappropriate.
The only element that is not appropriate is the suddenly growing relationship between Bart and Ned Flanders. It is supposed to highlight the fact that Bart is growing more and more distant from his father, but it should have been made more adequately than that way.
The script is so well written that even the most obvious technical mistakes become quickly forgivable. I obviously make mention of Arnold Schwarzenegger who is depicted as the President of the United States, when somebody who is born outside of the U.S. cannot become president. But if this gag would have been deleted, a nice quantity of laughs would have been deleted at the same time.
But it must be said that the movie is masterfully handled by entertainment geniuses. Conceptors took many subjects which have been publicly ridiculed so many times and kept the most they could. There are a lot of subjects, but some are more memorable than others, such as: rock activists, government agents, Disney, industry and even Fox parodies itself, which happened more than once in the series.
The usual title sequence has been heavily modified for the movie. There's still a punishment for Bart, but the sacred couch gag has been left aside, which is a great disappointment.
On the artistic side, nothing bad to say. The animation is first-rate and special effects have been used to create shadows and to make the pictures more three-dimensional and thus, more realistic. This is a privilege that TV episodes can't afford.
And to counter-balance funny scenes, the producers use dramatic scenes whose efficiency goes sometimes beyond of some straight-forward dramas. Finally, there's everything in that picture!
Many guest stars have appeared along the years and the movie makes no exception. We can see Albert Brooks in a key role, as well as Green Day and Tom Hanks as themselves.
Some scenes will undoubtedly become classics soon. We only have to think about Spider-Pig, Homer and Bart fixing the roof and Bart who cruises the street naked on his skateboard after his father challenged him to do so.
Matt Groening and his band of collaborators have successfully taken up the challenge. "The Simpsons Movie" might be the funniest comedy of 2007 and perhaps one of the best of the 21st century. And I don't think that its freshness will fade soon. It's really a splendid comed'oh.
Uh, I mean comedy...