Why does everything have to be a movie? The Simpsons has been tooling along for 18 years now as a TV show and genuine cultural institution, and even if its quality has dipped in the last few years, it remains ideally consumed in half-hour increments (really 22 minutes if you take out the commercials), perhaps with the occasional extra-long episode. The adventures of the titular family and the dozens of eccentric characters who inhabit Springfield are generally fast-paced and densely packed with jokes, with absurd plots that would fall apart if stretched beyond sitcom length. That’s not a flaw; it’s a perfect recipe for a good TV show.
But now we have The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length version of the show that has some snazzier animation but otherwise amounts to a decent oversized episode. For dedicated fans, especially those who remain regular viewers in the show’s later years, this will probably be enough. There are plenty of laughs in the beginning of the film, which in typical Simpsons fashion takes a circuitous route to the actual plot, and the movie showcases many of the show’s best features, including clever voice cameos (Green Day, Tom Hanks), incisive political satire and hilariously oddball references to obscure bits of culture.
Things slow a little as soon as the story kicks into gear, with Simpson patriarch Homer inadvertently sparking an environmental disaster that causes the government to lower a giant dome over Springfield. Ostracized by their neighbors because of Homer’s idiocy, the Simpsons find their way to Alaska, only to return to save their town from destruction. It’s a plot that’s easy to imagine filling a regular episode, and other than making it last longer the movie doesn’t do much to sell this story as deserving of special treatment. The sprawling supporting cast gets little to do, and the Simpson family spends much of the movie isolated from the world that has captivated viewers of the TV show for so long. Eleven writers (including many from the show’s earlier days) spent years crafting a script that seems like the victim of way too much second-guessing, and with all that work still doesn’t come close to the brilliance of the show at its peak.
Not every TV show needs to be a movie, but that’s not to say that TV shows can’t make the big-screen leap successfully: Back in 1999, the creators of South Park made a film that felt in every way grander and more carefully crafted than the episodes of the TV series—and it was also side-splittingly hilarious. Perhaps the secret was that they didn’t spend 18 years hoping for the perfect opportunity that never quite presented itself.
The Simpsons Movie
***
Voices of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith
Directed by David Silverman
Rated PG-13
Now playing