Decision ‘08

The Simpsons Movie - A Quick Review

Just went to the midnight showing, stupidly, on a work night, so I’ve got to make this quick and get to bed!

Good - not great. It’s funny, but it’s hard to sustain the laughs for the duration. There are moments in the latter parts of the movie, but the first 20 minutes or so are just hilarious. If you don’t go in expecting a great movie, but just a good time, you’ll be amply rewarded.

Still, the South Park movie was better…and I say that as someone who thinks South Park is at times hopelessly juvenile in its brand of humor and targets. The movie, however, was genuinely subversive, by placing that vulgarity in the innocuous setting of the Hollywood musical. The Simpsons Movie is essentially a feature-length episode of the TV show. There are three moments, however, of subversiveness that I won’t spoil for you, where the writers take advantage of the cinema to do what they could never do on television, and they’re sprinkled just the right length apart and not dwelt upon, so they retain their charm.

Oh, and the animation is beautiful throughout…but I drove all the way across town just to see the DLP projection, when it was showing a couple of blocks away…

3 out of 4 stars is about right…2 1/2 if you’re not a fan…

3 Responses to “The Simpsons Movie - A Quick Review”

1 » The Simpsons Movie - A Quick Review Says:
July 27th, 2007 at 2:21 am
[…] Original post by Mark […]
2 Peter Says:
July 29th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I took the family to see it last night and we all liked it — I would give it at least three stars, maybe four –
3 Peter Says:
July 31st, 2007 at 8:43 pm
From the New York Times: “I have long been of the opinion that the entire history of American popular culture — maybe even of Western civilization — amounts to little more than a long prelude to ‘The Simpsons.’”

It’s true. From Homer’s Odyssey to Homer’s odyssey.