Did this movie really have to be made??!!

Rating: 6/10 (20 August 2007)

Am i a fan of the Simpson's?..
Yes! I am. Not the kind that has seen every episode and remembers them but I've seen a few hundred of them and thats a lot.
Was I looking forward to this movie?
No s#$t.
Did I have sky high expectations from this movie?
Surprisingly I didn't.(not that surprising if you consider the kind of bug hype movies that have let down expectations this year).
Basically I'm describing the a whole bunch of people, which includes a large portion of North America.
Im all for the feature length and big screen adaptations of popular serials, and genuinely feel that often the larger running time, canvas and BUDGET, add a whole lot to the serials.
This was true in lots of cases, especially in the big screen adaptations of yesteryear's serials like Charlie's angels (it had its moments), The X-files, serenity etc.
But if the "BIGGER EVERYTHING", isn't going to add much to the movie, then i don't see the reason why I should be spending 240 rs, to watch the movie, when I can watch the serial for free, or watch it on TV later.
Unfortunately this was the case in the movie.
The graphics were only at par with the serial, and the slightly deviations from the style on TV was more of a distraction than a genuine addition.
The Dolby surround was used but added nothing to the movie.
Im sure the budget was several times the serials (and not proportionate to 87/22, the average serial run time to this movies length), but this did nothing for the movie.
The longer length could have meant many more gags and a rare instance of lots of parallel stories plots and sub-plots, with larger than normal footage given to more than a couple of characters (usually besides the family only a few characters are given much footage), but instead it ended up being almost boring in a few parts, IN BETTER DAYS THE BEST JOKES FROM THIS MOVIE AND A LESS STRETCHED OUT PLOT WOULD HAVE FORMED A STANDARD 30 MIN SERIAL OR AT MOST A ONE HOUR SPECIAL.
Still the movie had its moments.
The standard Simpson's humour was all there, many jokes were hilarious and some had the spark that has often been found missing in the later seasons, the few jokes with Burns and Irish boy, had me reminiscing and laughing at the same time.
Although it came close never ever did this movie cross into boring territory, every time you thought that this movie was going to lose a hand, it pulled out an ace from its sleeve.
THE GUEST APPEARANCES WERE HILARIOUS, and as big ticket as can get.
The shorter than average length insured that you never OD'ed on people you weren't used to seeing in slabs of more than half an hour.
SO WERE THE JOKES GOOD AND THE MOVIE ENTERTAINING??
YES!??.
BUT DOES IT MEAN THAT THIS MOVIE HAD TO BE MADE AND THAT WE SHOULD PAY FULL TICKET PRICES AND WATCH IT IN A THEATER.
I don't think so....
So if you have to watch this movie (and indeed you should), then please only watch it on DVD, at really really cheap prices in the theater, or better still on good ol TV where I have been enjoying Simpson's since the last 15 years.
-s "BIGGER EVERYTHING" adds nothing to this movie, feels like a stretched out 1 hour special, potential far from exploited.
+/-s did this movie and its theatrical release need to happen, i certainly don't think so.
+s jokes were still funny (albiet with breaks of mediocrity), a couple of scenes had that old spark, never bored.
total 6/10 (only because i had fun, however it was only as much fun as i would have had seeing it on TV, and because luckily i didn't have that many expectations, if i consider the fact that i felt kind of cheated watching this movie than this movie will crossover below 5 in my opinion).
ps The fact that such ordinary cinema has broken the top 250 list is truly scary and its taken me a lot off effort not to change my original rating to a much lower one, only to get the overall rating down.