Skip over navigation

The Simpsons

4 stars out of 5.0
The Simpsons

'Terrible things are going to happen,' warns Grampa, rolling down the Church aisle in spiritual fervour. (In a typically sharp touch, someone whips out a cell phone to record his religious experience for posterity.)

And terrible things do happen: to the polluted local lake, which turns toxic. To Bart, who is supplanted in his father's affections by a swine Homer goofily christens 'Spider-pig'. And to Springfield, which is deemed such an environmental catastrophe President Schwarzenegger has it cut off from the rest of the country by a large glass dome. As coffee supplies run low, irate citizens form a lynch mob to hang the buffoon who tipped the town into disaster. Guess who?

As a Simpsons fan old enough to remember when Bart was black (at least to certain well-meaning pop culture theorists) this movie never seemed inevitable, or called for, come to that. But now it's here, after several lackluster recent seasons, I'm glad it's good, even if the first 20 minutes promise much more than the next hour can possibly deliver.

It doesn't take Homer long (about two minutes) to ask the obvious question: What kind of sucker pays for something he can watch at home for free?

Thankfully this is the last time the thought will intrude on what proves to be a smooth and assured transition. The Simpsons Movie is basically a bumper edition of the show; bigger, longer and uncut. (Newsflash: we get a passing glimpse of Bart's manhood after Homer double-dares him to skateboard through Springfield butt naked.)

At its best, The Simpsons is as cruel a satire on American culture - particularly the lack of it - as anything on prime time. Producer James L Brooks negotiated creative independence from Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network, and over the years the writers haven't been shy to bite the hand that feeds them. Indolent blue collar imbecile Homer may not be a model citizen or a working class hero, but you have to look next door, at his squarely middle-class, born again neighbour Ned Flanders to find where the slap invariably sticks.

The Simpsons

Not this time though. Perhaps cowed by his public humiliation and jealous of the hog, Bart begins to draw unflattering comparisons between Homer and Flanders - and goes perilously soft on us.

Even Marge has had enough, after Homer high-tails it to Alaska and makes it clear he cares more about his own yellow skin than the good folk of Springfield.

The show has ventured beyond home town security before of course, but it's usually sharper on the micro: domestic squabbles, neighborly feuds and the petty prevarications of municipal authority figures. Let's face it, the Homer Simpsons of this world have no curiosity for anything beyond the remote, so it's a stretch when he ups sticks, and almost immediately the movie loses some of its sparkle.

Homer's odyssey gives the picture epic scope, no doubt, but it's a pity several well-loved supporting characters are short-changed as a result, and dare we suggest his redemptive transformation from pathetic Every-jerk to mock action-hero is a just teensy bit tired?

The Simpsons

That's not to say The Simpsons Movie doesn't have plenty of laughing gas left in its tank, but those hilarious opening 20 minutes remind us how far this wickedly funny animated series pushed the sitcom format towards an inspired, anarchic subversion. The film settles for something more conventional, though you can hardly hold that against it. Bigger and longer don't always mean better, but The Simpsons Movie is still a cut above the rest.

Tom Charity
tom.charity@lovefilm.com

Titles related to this article

Related/similar articles