The Simpsons Movie

Updated Saturday 10 May, 2008 12:19 PM | Headlines | Discussion Forum | International Edition

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The Simpsons Movie

It’s time to put an end to the franchise.

Homer: I can't believe we're paying to see something we get on TV for free! If you ask me, everybody in this theater is a giant sucker... [turns to face the camera and points straight forward, referring to the viewer] Especially you!

The Simpsons seem to have been around forever, but it was only recently (five or so years ago) that I actually got into watching them. Skimming through the episodes of the first few seasons, I have been able to conclude that the Simpsons reached a height during their third to seventh seasons, and then have steadily declined in quality. They have some episodes that were still very good, but overall the quality has declined slightly. Where they once effortlessly pulled off satire such as Sideshow Bob Roberts and comedy like Homer the Clown, they now have much of their time being wasted with exaggerated plots or silly punch lines; really, some of them would be wasted on even wackier shows.

The shows worked, at first, because they were grounded in a kind of reality. Some of them, such as the bad babysitter episodes, were grounded, but also had stranger humorous connotations. Bart was the little scamp with the heart of gold. Lisa was the smart isolated kid (but really she’s grown too smart and too irritating in her recent appearances). Homer was a boob and Marge…well, she’s the glue that holds them all together. As the shows got weirder and depended more on silly plotlines – WTF? Principle Skinner was a fake? – the Simpsons started to lose their edge. The magic was no longer there.

Cartoons like Bugs Bunny work because they’re not grounded in reality. Soap operas work (for some; I have a passionate loathing for soaps) because they are grounded in reality, although one with more drama than the average life. The Simpsons sought to straddle the gap, and while it is believable – just – that Homer would change jobs every so often, as the plots grew thinner and thinner, the show declined. How many times can Marge come close to cheating on Homer before we start wondering why she doesn’t just dump the boob and fly off with Artie Ziff?

And now…they’ve done a Simpsons Movie. I was hopeful at first because it was announced that Sideshow Bob would be in it, and Sideshow Bob is my favourite character from the Simpsons. When he was removed, I grew less interested and only watched the movie completely when my girlfriend wanted to watch it. Mistake, Christopher, big mistake.

The Simpsons Movie can be summed up fairly easily. There’s too much pollution in Lake Springfield. Lisa goes nuts trying to get it taken out again. (And really, who sort of eight-year-old girl has that sort of clout?) The lake is cleared, but Homer dumps pig-slops in it and the town is sealed off by the EPA – literally – under a massive glass dome. The Simpsons are nearly lynched by their friends and are forced to escape to Alaska, where they live until they discover that their former home is about to be destroyed, so they return to save it. Dear me…I spent money to see this?

This movie was way too long, and I mean way. The Simpsons best episodes have always been the ones where there was only one plot. The worst have been the ones where there were two plots. This movie has no less then three plots, all intermingled, and intermingled badly. There are some funny lines and moments, such as the mob scene and Grandpa’s precognitive fit, but it just doesn’t gell. Characters who should have been important have brief appearances and then vanish again.

There’s only so far vastly improved animation can take someone before the plot holes start growing out of control. It could have been great if someone who actually knew something about writing a movie did the screenplay, but instead, the only irritating truth around here is that the Simpsons Movie sucked wind.

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