Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
7/28/07
I'm a pretty big fan of The
Simpsons, FOX's generation-spanning animated sitcom which recently
aired its' 400th episode. Maybe not “I can name every episode” big,
or even “I've SEEN every episode” big (I did mention that there are 400
of them, right?), but big enough to own all the DVDs, still be watching
the new episodes on Sundays and to catch the syndicated reruns from time
to time. No matter how many times it happens, I'm always kinda surprised
by the Simpsons Whiplash that occurs when the syndicated run reaches
the end and goes back to the beginning, because it's easy to forget that
while the characters are unaging and their situation never changes, what
kind of show The Simpsons is has actually changed a few times during
its' run. The original Simpsons was, in many ways, a more
artful and humanist animated version of the original FOX sitcom hit, Married...
With Children. The Simpsons were fairly grounded in reality as
yellow animated people go, as were their emotions and problems as a wacky
dysfunctional family. Then, around the 3rd season, things started
to change: the characters became a little broader and their adventures
became a LOT broader, with loads of referential humor, political satire
and celebrity cameos becoming the norm. The next 5 seasons or so
were the Simpsons Renaissance, when the humor was delightfully crazy,
the writing razor-sharp and the characters still maintained a certain humanity.
Then, for what has now become the bulk of the series' run, things became
a lot more scatter-shot. More than stories, the episodes are now
a series of sketches that flow one into the other like the old Abbott
and Costello Show. Reality is mostly out the window, which allows
the show to be more absurdly funny than ever when it hits its' marks, or
utterly unwatchable when it doesn't. The endless supporting cast
of wacky characters, from mainstays like Krusty the Clown and Mr. Burns
to background oddities like Professor Frink and Disco Stu are all given
their moments in the sun, sometimes dozens in every episode.
So, you might ask, what does
this TV history lesson have to do with The Simpsons Movie?
Well, it explains a certain feeling of Simpsons Whiplash I had while
watching it: 10 years of the current format couldn't help but prepare
me for a big-screen feature full of big laughs, bad storytelling and lots
of Hans Moleman, but it delivers none of the three. Instead, as huge
as its' story is, it's surprisingly low-key, with lots of good but not
sensational jokes, not much for its' beloved supporting players to do,
and a surprisingly human dysfunctional yellow family at its' center.
Lovable as he is, Homer Simpson
(Dan Castellaneta) is a selfish jerk. He doesn't have much time for
his family, wife Marge (Julie Kavner), daughters Lisa (Yeardley Smith)
and Maggie or son Bart (Nancy Cartwright) but instead showers his love
on his new pet pig Plopper. Among the things he ignores in favor
of his new pal are an environmental crisis at Lake Springfield (which has
just dissolved the band Green Day in the middle of a concert) and an apocalyptic
vision Grampa Simpson (Castellaneta again) has at church one Sunday.
Alas, it's all tied together, and when Homer takes yet another shortcut
and disposes of his giant silo of “Pig Crap” in the lake, it creates a
toxic disaster that power-mad Environmental Protection Agency director
Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks) deals with by encasing Springfield in a giant
dome. Pursued by an angry mob, the Simpsons escape the dome through
a sinkhole and make their way to Alaska to start a new life. But
when it's clear that Cargill plans to wipe both the dome and Springfield
off the map, Marge and the kids head back to save the town while Homer
is left to find his inner hero.
Let's start by saying this
about The Simpsons Movie: given that it's all the show can
do anymore to keep its' mind on any one plot strand for five minutes, it's
amazing how lucid and full-bodied its' plot is. Ironically, at 87
minutes, the movie doesn't have quite enough time to really do it justice.
While it's unusual to see any kind of cinematic setup and payoff from these
characters, a lot of plot threads introduced in the first act don't really
go anywhere (for instance, the whole thing starts with Homer's adoption
of Plopper, but he disappears when the family escapes from the dome and
never resurfaces). And the slow devolution of Springfield as it's
cut off from the rest of the world suggests enough story material for a
whole other movie but only gets a few cut-aways to play out (and why doesn't
anyone ever think to try and dig their way out of the dome?). Meanwhile,
a subplot with Homer on an Alaskan vision quest is neither funny nor substantial
enough to justify the screen time it gets. Strangely enough, Cargill
reports to US President Arnold Schwarzenegger (Harry Shearer), who's obviously
Simpsons Arnold stand-in Rainier Wolfcastle. It's an odd and confusing
choice, and having the man who played McBane as the President would have
been funnier.
But a lot goes right with
the plot as well: Plopper, with his ever-present look of dull stupidity,
is a hoot, and the little “Spider-Pig” song Homer sings about him is the
movie's funniest moment (if only it didn't know it so well that it goes
back to the gag three times). Cargill is a surprisingly effective
and timely villain, driven by nothing other than megalomania and bad judgment...
and the fact that he owns the company that built the dome. A subplot
where Bart bonds with neighbor Ned Flanders (Shearer again) goes places
emotionally that neither character has before (it's certainly the best
Flanders stuff ever), and Marge delivers a videotaped monologue about her
disappointment in Homer that is absolutely heartbreaking. The action
climax isn't bad, and the movie, particularly in the first half, is consistently
funny, albeit never really hilarious.
The Simpsons Movie
should entertain fans of the series, particularly those pining away for
a time when it was more of a show and less of an institution (it certainly
would have been last season's best episode, not that that's high praise).
Perhaps it's too much to ask that it do full justice to the sprawling canvas
of people and places that 200 hours of television have created. It's
not the Best. Movie. Ever., but it's not too bad, either.
And as Maggie's second word assures us at the movie's close, I'm sure this
isn't the last chance the good people of Springfield will have to get it
right. |
