Simpsons, eh?

Warning: Spoilers Below.

After nearly twenty years of animated brilliance, The Simpsons finally have a movie. Matt Groening no doubt had many opportunities to write a movie that was guaranteed to cash in on a wildly successful series, but it is to his credit that he waited. The result is a fine movie indeed.

Of course, there's nothing entirely new; the movie essentially feels like a 90 minute episode (which is a decidedly good thing, since it was made for the millions of us who love the episodes). But you can tell that the writers and animators had fun trying some techniques and tricks that wouldn't work in a normal TV episode. First of all, it's the first time we've ever seen the Simpsons in widescreen, and seeing Springfield projected on the big screen feels odd after watching it for so long on TV. Also, the cinematography is different; they played more with sweeping camera shots and panoramic views. You could tell that the style was slightly dressed-up for the big screen, but they didn't change anything drastically, which is why it worked so well.

They also pushed the envelope in the realm of obscenity, but again, just enough to try a couple things they wouldn't do on TV. I've certainly never heard Marge use the expression "god damned..." in a sentence before, and there's a scene with Bart-- well, I won't give that one away.

A couple things, though, kept it from being the "Best.. Movie.. Ever." Lisa's crush on the kid from Ireland, for instance, was fairly pointless; the writers don't go anywhere with it, and we don't even really see any substantial humor come out of it.

But mainly, I would like to have seen more of peripheral characters like Krusty, Groundskeeper Willie, Principal Skinner, Snake, Apu, Police Chief Wiggum, Ralph, and especially Mr. Burns. One of the strengths that the Simpsons has always had as a show is that it develops these characters as much as the family itself, so that each person in the town has a distinct identity that adds to the mosaic of Springfield as the American Everytown. On the other hand, I can see how trying to fit as many characters as possible into the movie would have diluted the plot and made the movie into a pointless (albeit funny) string of one-liners and cameos, so I don't hold it against them. Maybe Mr. Burns simply needs his own movie.

It was nothing short of amazing, though, to hear Green Day sing the Simpsons theme at the beginning. And the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon was sheer genius.

All in all, an excellent movie that draws on all of the absurd, topical, high-brow, low-brow comedy that has long made The Simpsons the perfect satire of the American Family. Go see it!