The Simpsons Movie (2007) by The Critical Movie Critics

Movie Review: The Simpsons Movie (2007)


18 years since its FOX premiere (19 or 20 if you count the spots on “The Tracey Ullman Show”), America’s favorite dysfunctional family comes to the silver screen in none other than The Simpsons Movie. I’d, at most, call myself a casual fan of the cartoon — I haven’t watched it religiously for many, many years (thought the mojo was gone), choosing instead to focus my energies on “South Park.” I say this so you’ll understand why I was skeptical when the movie was announced, thinking to myself Matt Groening missed the train by ten years. How right I am after seeing this.

I simply can’t fathom what Groening was thinking when he green-lighted this. Cartoons don’t need realistic or Oscar worthy premises, but what was settled on for The Simpsons Movie had to have been one from the bottom of the barrel. Lake Springfield has become a polluted mess. It’s gotten so bad, a ban on dumping in the lake is drafted. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is notified after Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) circumvents the ordinance and dumps a silo of his pig’s shit into the lake, polluting it further. The solution brought forth by EPA boss Russ Cargill (voiced by Albert Brooks) is to encase Springfield in a dome. Genius. The town turns their ire towards Homer and the family, so they escape to Alaska where they look to live out the rest of their days. That is until they realize they must return to the town that despises them to save the day.

If that took 18 years to develop, then jam a stick up my ass and call me a lollipop. It’s bad enough the idea is stupid, but the writing for it was equally suspect. Gone is the whimsical nature I expect of Bart (voiced by Nancy Cartwright). Sure he’s got a few moments — most notably skateboarding naked — but overall he’s subdued. Lisa (voiced by Yeardley Smith) and Marge (voiced by Julie Kavner), both generally the stalwart figures of the show, are reduced to a sideshow. Lisa offers nothing to the film. Marge is still the moral compass for her idiot husband (Homer, for first time viewers), but somewhere along the way the translation is lost. She seemed like the idiot. My biggest problem, however, is the attempt to give each and every character in the series air time. This leads to asinine scenarios which lend no credence to the movie and leave fans of the characters scratching their heads.

The Simpsons Movie should have been so much more. The general consensus in making the jump to the big screen is to do things not possible on television. A perfect example of this is “South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut.” Now I’m not advocating taking the Simpsons to that level of dirty, but surely there are avenues that could have been pursued. Having one of the characters run around naked and having Homer flip people the bird hardly seems like the limit is being pushed. The maverick days of Groening appear to have passed because he certainly let a great opportunity slip by.

At the beginning of the movie Homer turns and calls everyone in the theater a sucker. How right he was. The Simpsons Movie is simply a poorly thought out 90 minute television show. If it were 60 minutes shorter, it may have had the ability to make a relatively funny episode. There is little to no endearing qualities — the only folks who will find solace in this offering are the die hard fans who continue to watch the show (even as the writing slips further into the abyss). God help us all if what Maggie says during the ending credits is true. D’oh!

Critical Movie Critic Rating:
2 Star Rating: Bad

2

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The Critical Movie Critics

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.


'Movie Review: The Simpsons Movie (2007)' have 23 comments

  1. The Critical Movie Critics

    July 30, 2007 @ 2:43 pm Comic Book Guy

    While I kinda agree that the premise could have been better, it certainly wasn’t a slouch either. So long as the lunacy of Springfield is faithfully captured, I’m a happy man. Matt Groening and the Simpsons have plenty of life left in them and I look forward to a sequel!

  2. The Critical Movie Critics

    July 31, 2007 @ 7:18 pm jerry g

    I did enjoy the movie, but agree that Matt Groening should have been more risque with the writing. It was the perfect opportunity to let Bart go wild.

  3. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 1, 2007 @ 12:35 am cool guy

    The movie sucked. I was a fan in the 90’s, and now I’m glad that I stopped watching the show (I’ll still watch some rerums). The movie wasn’t funny, and Matt Groening just preached his environmental and political opinions.

  4. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 1, 2007 @ 2:21 pm The Simpson's Movie sucked ass.

    The movie was so shit I almost had a heart attack. It simply was a 90min new episode you had to pay for, I can’t believe I was fooled to watch this garbage. I was a faithful Simpson’s fan ’til the new episodes started to appear. It’s one of the shows I hate these days.

  5. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 3, 2007 @ 10:36 am Stubsy

    I was going to watch this film, after your review I don’t think I’ll bother.

    You’ve saved me a wasted trip

    cheers

  6. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 3, 2007 @ 6:38 pm MrWonton

    This is similar to the review my parents gave me. Im slightly dissapointed; I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m a HUGE Simpsons fan (also a BIG SP fan – The Losing Edge is my favoutite btw) and im scared that watching this film will ruin the franchise for me. The last couple series have been terrible anyway :(

  7. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 4, 2007 @ 12:22 pm Sean Pollock

    In my opinion the movie was not bad, but it was not “Amazing”… I truly wouldn’t recommend anyone to see it, however it will someday be on dvd for 2 dollars or aired on television. Trust me, they can wait.

  8. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 5, 2007 @ 6:47 am Tibi Puiu

    That terrible he ? I’m disappointed, being the hardcore simpsons that i am. I expected more, i mean common Bart was like inexistent. :

  9. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 6, 2007 @ 2:38 am fizetr

    Simpsons movie, it’s another simple movie, and a big piece of shit, a fucking annoying movie

  10. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 6, 2007 @ 6:39 am Hecky

    I was planning on seeing this soon, maybe I shouldn’t bother.

  11. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 11, 2007 @ 1:41 am Willy

    I am a die-hard fan, and I thought the movie was terrible. My opinion is somewhat opposite- I think it is the casual Simpson fan who LIKES the movie, but most of us who grew up with the great writing of the early 90’s will dislike this movie. It was truly what I expected- you can’t turn a successful 25 minute plot into a 2 hour movie with a serious storyline, and have it appeal to the same audience.

    BTW one of the funniest clips just came out on Season 10- Homer trying to build the BBQ grill!!

  12. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 14, 2007 @ 9:53 pm Norm

    Yep, it sucked! I’ve waited years for this… not even funny… I chuckled twice. It’s over man, I’m through with the Simpsons. I haven’t watched them for two weeks since I saw the movie. It’s jumped the shark, it’s time to move on.

  13. The Critical Movie Critics

    August 15, 2007 @ 4:49 pm Jeff

    I didn’t even feel like chuckling nor smiling at all. The Simpsons had a lame “SNL”ish feel throughout the entire movie, and the fluid CGI animation was VERY distracting. Well, what can one expect when FOX throws money at the producers and forces them to shove mediocre to bad episodes/movies onto us this this. The Simpsons had died years ago.

    • The Critical Movie Critics

      August 18, 2007 @ 6:35 am General Disdain

      Thanks for all the comments on this one. Seems the consensus on this movie is it really missed the mark.

  14. The Critical Movie Critics

    September 21, 2007 @ 8:16 am Norrad

    I actually enjoyed. Maybe watching it in Thai with English subtitles added to it’s humour. But, it did feel a bit long winded. They seemed to be grabbing for jokes most of the time.

  15. The Critical Movie Critics

    October 30, 2007 @ 11:46 am cartman

    South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut is infinitely better than this. What a disapointment.

  16. The Critical Movie Critics

    November 6, 2007 @ 4:44 pm Pauline

    My kids have seen this and they said it was funny – so it must be!

  17. The Critical Movie Critics

    November 19, 2007 @ 12:41 am Sirius Lee

    IMHO, this movie’s only reason for being is to squeeze as much profit from Matt Groening’s baby before it is consigned once and for all to the dustbins of TV history. Sad to see this once beloved epitome of political incorrectness exit with a whimper.

  18. The Critical Movie Critics

    December 6, 2007 @ 6:11 pm Gearhead

    Not bad, but this movie is no better than an average episode. In fact I’d say the movie is below par of an average episode.

  19. The Critical Movie Critics

    December 12, 2007 @ 11:59 am AnAngryPerson's other personality

    Haven’t seen the movies yet but being the Simpsons fan I am I probably will see it eventually even though I knew that the movie was going to be what you yourself and other people have said about the movie, bad.

    When you’ve been alive long enough to see an entire series(what we call a season) of a show come and go such as the great Malcolm In The Middle. You get a feeling when you know a show is at the end of its life. With Malcolm the story’s just started going down hill, episodes felt so much shorter and also were bad as a more distinctive feature. What does this mean? Well watch a early, mid episode of Malcolm then watch an episode near the end to see what I mean then do the same with the Simpsons and you should get what I mean.

    I’ve recently got the same feeling with the simpsons they’ve really run out of ideas and you can see it in the shows.

    So whats next a movie, as soon as I heard this, I thought this is the final nail in the coffin of the Simpsons now the movie is out I think that the Simpsons is near the end of its life and won’t be going on for much longer.

  20. The Critical Movie Critics

    March 27, 2008 @ 5:12 am ChrisP

    I purchased the DVD yesterday and watched it last night. First – the adverts ran full screen, but when the movie started it shrunk to about 50% of full size (same aspect ratio). Second – the movie is terrible, truly awful. How on earth could they make this junk. I watched it for about 30 mins then ejected the DVD and put it in the bin.

  21. The Critical Movie Critics

    November 22, 2011 @ 8:34 pm Simpsons fan

    I have to agree that the movie was shit. Couldn´t even finish it and I´ve been watching the Simpsons for over 15 years.

  22. The Critical Movie Critics

    January 30, 2012 @ 8:34 am Robflick

    The opening sequence with Bart on the skateboard is a great moment…but it kind of goes downhill (along with the skateboard) from there on in. Doesn’t really work in the movie format.

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