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The Simpsons Movie
is supposed to revitalize the struggling franchise. Instead it
just reminds us what a long, painful decline it’s had over the
last 10 years.
The movie is as good as the television show right
now: occasionally funny, but unfulfilling and with no memorable
laughs. Long gone are the days when The Simpsons was must-see TV
every week; the writing was sharper then, more topical and
always a lot funnier. Now the show is a stale imitation of what
it once was, and yet after 400-plus episodes, no one involved
seems interested in calling it quits.
The premise is simple: After Grandpa (voiced by Dan Castellaneta)
has a premonition that doomsday is near, Homer (Castellaneta
again) ignorantly dumps a silo full of pig excrement into Lake
Springfield. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency
(Albert Brooks) then calls Springfield “the most polluted city
on the planet” and encloses it in a large, transparent dome.
Blaming Homer,
the townspeople come to burn him in effigy, but the family,
including Marge (Julie Kavner), Bart (Nancy Cartwright), Lisa (Yeardley
Smith) and Maggie escape and venture to Alaska for safety. The
shifting locations help keep the movie from seeming like one
long episode but do not help the comedy. The best moments come
early on as Bart and Homer dare one another to do stupid things
and everyone’s storyline is established. Here there are a number
of one-liners that make you laugh but are soon forgotten, and as
the story progresses the jokes grow more tired and less
creative, which pretty much sums up how many people feel about
the TV show right now.
The movie is
rated PG-13, and easily could’ve been PG were it not for Marge
swearing, Homer flicking people off and Bart riding his
skateboard naked. Director David Silverman and the extensive
creative staff were right to push the writing for the big
screen, but not sanitizing the content will likely prevent a lot
of interested kids from seeing the movie.
Longtime fans
also will be disappointed because some main characters make
little more than cameo appearances. Mr. Burns (Harry Shearer),
Apu (Hank Azaria), Chief Wiggum (Azaria again), Moe (ditto
Azaria) and others are hurt by the movie detouring to Alaska
because only the Simpsons can be shown there. What’s more, Bart
develops an unlikely appreciation for Flanders (Shearer again)
and whines about Homer not being a better father, which drags
the movie down with the same pseudo-drama the TV show has been
beating to death for 18 years.
The Simpsons Movie
was supposed to be a fresh start, an opportunity to get away
from the bland redundancy of the TV series and take the
characters in a new direction that couldn’t be accomplished in a
half-hour. Given that work on the script began in 2003 and this
was the best they could do, there’s little chance the
sporadically funny movie will reignite interest in the show.
Or as Comic Book Guy (Azaria) would say: “most useless
adaptation ever.”
Comments?
E-mail dhudak22@yahoo.com. For more film reviews, go to
www.miamisunpost.com/film_capsules.htm.
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The Simpsons Movie **
Directed by David Silverman. Written by Matt Groening,
James L. Brooks, Al Jean, Mike Scully, et al. Starring
Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright,
Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer. Rated PG-13.
**** A
genuine must-see
***
Entertaining
**
Mediocre but not worthless
*
A wretched waste of time
Also
opening in Miami-Dade County this Friday: No
Reservations, Rescue Dawn, Sunshine,
Talk to Me, Vitus, Who’s Your Caddy?
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