I went to see an 11:15am showing of The Simpsons Movie at the Arclight today, and I guess I’m going to take a few minutes to write about it, even though nobody cares what I have to say. The crowd’s excitement was quite palpable. The girl sitting to my immediate left was actually taking pictures of the crowd before the previews began. The usher who welcomed everyone to the theater kept screaming “Eighteen years!” and harping on how long the wait has been, so would you please turn your cell phones off for the betterment of the long-awaited movie experience. And then the lights dimmed, and some horrible previews passed, and then the ninety-minute Simpsons movie commenced!
(watch movie here)
I had mixed emotions when I left the theater. I certainly laughed a lot, but my laughter (as well as that of the audience around me) noticeably decreased over the course of the movie. The first twenty-to-forty minutes were excellent. The first person we see is Ralph Wiggum. Homer makes a joke about paying to watch movies when you can see the same thing on television for free. There’s some full-frontal nudity. Countless loopy jokes and brainless shenanigans, like a game of Truth or Dare with Bart and Homer, help ease us into the film. The addition of Albert Brooks was a fantastic surprise. We got to see all the secondary characters without it feeling saturated. There was even another drug-like trip with a weird spiritual guru (albeit not nearly as great as Johnny Cash as the Spirit coyote in “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer”).
Once the comfortableness sets in, the film introduces the main plot, and it simply was not very interesting. It also killed the humor that was driving the first section of the movie, almost as if the writers conjured this huge idea and totally forgot about the fact that they were constructing a comedic cartoon. The idea that the family is on the brink of destruction has been evident–and has driven plots–ever since the first full-length episode, “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire.” Alas, with rare exceptions, like “A Milhouse Divided,” those episodes where Homer and Marge are on the outs begin to feel pedestrian. The movie is like three of those rehashed plots combined.
The Simpsons has always been a socially conscious show, but more often than not, it has existed in the margins. Until recent seasons, the show has been a comedic satire. I’ve never absorbed The Simpsons in the same way I would an editorial in The New York Times. It’s a comedy! Where Homer continually one-ups himself by doing even more retarded things! One of either Homer or Bart fucks up and everyone else has to fix it! Or, something really insane and unrealistic happens! In the movie, it felt like a political agenda was not metaphoric, but rammed down the audience’s throat. In the first hour of the movie, there’s an interruption with a scrolling ad for a FOX game show. In the second hour, there are no more subtle jokes, only commentary about our evil government. I get it. It’s been done before. We’ve all watched “The Daily Show.” Maybe I only noticed this because I’m a fairly apolitical person, and watch The Simpsons to be entertained. I feel the same way when band’s stop concerts to give political speeches. Sure, I might agree with the principles, but I’d rather get information from the news, and laughs from The Simpsons.
I guess what I’m getting at is, it wasn’t good. I’ve griped here more than issued praise, but the movie was in no way cloying or unwatchable. I laughed a lot during the first hour. A whole fucking lot. Somehow, the aspirations of the writers grew too large, and it clearly detracts from the movie. Hopefully if they try to make another Simpsons movie, they follow they follow the rich, brilliant outline used at the beginning of the movie, and simply expand upon that without becoming bogged down in wayward plots.
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