{mosimage} The yellow
universe of The Simpsons finally hits the big screen. An environmental
disaster, provoked by the one and only Homer Simpson (with a bit of help from
his new close friend, Spider-Pig) threatens to cause Springfield’s apocalypse. The
much-anticipated big-screen adventure of the most dysfunctional family opens
worldwide today.
{sidebar id=1}T
he idea of
a Simpsons film was rumored for many years and it also took many years to
complete. The big day is here and as Homer exclaims at the beginning of the
film: “I can't believe we're paying for something we
get for free on TV!”
After
creating such universal pop icons, sure Matt Groening and the crew of writers
felt a lot of pressure to avoid disappointing the millions of fans. Watching
the film is easy to notice that they tried very hard, even too hard.
The movie,
especially in its first half, is a tour around Springfield and it contains most
of the best gags in the movie, including the naked skate ride by Bart,
including a moment of full frontal. Almost every character has some seconds on
screen. But many of them appear too briefly as the film focuses exclusively in the
Simpsons.
It seems
that the writer made a conscious effort to separate the feature film from the
series and usual locations, like Moe’s bar, the school or the nuclear plant,
are hardly seen. The animation has been improved with detailed backgrounds and
shiny computer effects.
There are
some good gags and well written dialogues, but the film ends up suffering from
the same flaws the series has suffered in the last seasons. Homer has become a silly
caricature of himself instead of the absurd genius that he used to be. There is
also a futile effort in keeping the series contemporary and transmitting political
message instead of being satirical and unconventional. But the main problem
with the film is a weak plot and the lack of remarkable jokes. One wonders how
come a large team of writers didn’t come up with a better story.
In spite of
all the defects The Simpsons is still entertaining, but it is just a bit
disappointing that it is nothing better than an extended episode, done when the
glory days of the series are gone. In a way, this film leaves the same feeling
as the latest Rolling Stones’ album: it’s not bad, but not great and, above
all, was it necessary?
A dubbed version in Finnish will be released in theaters across Finland. It is the first time that The Simpsons will speak Finnish.