THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The Simpsons has been the ongoing television phenomenon since 1989 only after their debut through the Tracey Ullman Show. After South Park got there own movie in 1999, fans wondered when would these mostly yellow characters would get one of their own and thankfully, 20th Century (Fox) Studios got around in 2007 and it was such a ball.
PLOT
The Simpsons Movie shows Lisa Simpson attempting to stop the pollution in her town from getting worse after the death of the band Green Day. It pays off after the mayor sets up a fence around the lake. Her father Homer ends up adopting a new pet pig, giving it the center of attention. This makes his son Bart jealous and develops a friendship with their neighbor Ned Flanders. Homer ends up ridding of the silo of his new pet pig's feces into the same lake once he discovers a free donut giveaway, instead of sending it to a hazardous waste dumping center. This causes the pollution to go so bad that a squirrel becomes a mutant when exposed to the lake, gaining a dozen eyes. When head of the EPA Russ Cargill discovers this, he lets President Arnold Schwarzenegger decide the fate of Springfield out of five options. He chooses Plan 3 without reading it, which turns out to trap Springfield in a dome. This ties up to the outburst that Grandpa Abraham had at church where he said ‘epa, twisted tail, a thousand eyes and trapped forever’. The day the dome arrives, Cargill announces to the town that Springfield is officially the most polluted city on Earth and it must be contained. When the news discovers Homer’s silo in the lake, the town quickly assembles a mob to kill the Simpsons. The family escapes the dome from the sinkhole in their backyard which also destroys their home. Now on the run, Homer suggests to restart their lives at Alaska. As that happens, the city is running out of supplies and desire to be free. When Cargill discovers what’s happening, he convinces the president to pick Plan 4, unbeknownst to him it would mean blowing up the town. When the Simpsons discover this from a commercial, Marge wants to stop it from happening. Homer is selfishly against it, causing his family to leave without him. When he discovers this from a VHS tape, that originally plays his wedding video, he chooses to go after them. During his quest, he encounters a native woman who helps him find his epiphany that other people are just as important as him. This helps him accept that Springfield must be saved. As he continues his quest, his family are abducted by Cargill and sent back to the dome after being made by the NSA. The day they return, the bomb arrives set to 15 minutes before destruction. The civilians attempt to escape but when Homer returns and falls in, he accidentally prevents them from doing so. With only 4 minutes left, Homer acts quickly and grabs a motorcycle and the bomb, in attempt to throw it outside the dome before detonation. As Bart is attempting to share his final moments with the Flanders family, he is convinced by his father to help him. As they ride to the top of the dome, Bart is able to throw the bomb outside the hole which shatters the dome to glass. They land near Springfield George and encounter Cargill. He attempts to shoot them but are saved by the toddler Maggie as she drops a Boulder on him. When returning home, Homer makes amends with Marge as they share another kiss and the film ends with everyone rebuilding Springfield.
THOUGHTS
I’ve been seeing this film since it’s 2007 theatrical release and every viewing since, I am still laughing my ass off. The Simpsons is the kind of show where you sit back, relax and expect nothing but laughs. It’s no exception with the movie here as it felt two episodes without commercials, giving me the biggest laughs I’ve ever had. From the Tom Hanks commercial, the gag on how everyone in church and Moe’s Bar swapped places as the dome emerges, Ralph singing the theme to 20th Century (Fox) Studios as he is standing on the giant logo, the Itchy and Scratchy movie and how everyone lost it inside the dome, Bart calling Walt Disney Motion Pictures an evil corporation, which is ironic because the studio is now owned by that said corporation since 2019, I mean I just can’t enough of it. This is proof of the great writing from Matt Groening and company. As a director, David Silverman succeeds in containing the story full of dozens of characters. Not everyone shines here but it’s okay because they don’t affect the story like the titular family. The animation is holding up as time goes by which shows how well the franchise has evolved. I also got to give credit for its easter egg as they showed off the ambulance truck that crashed into a tree in the episode 'Bart the Daredevil'. They didn't have to do it, but it was pretty cool to see nevertheless. I am true to my word that this movie has its fair share of jokes that will keep this movie timeless but after years of rewatching it, there are some jokes and plot elements that haven’t aged well for me. First off, I know Homer crosses the line a lot and I will regularly praise the character for being the funniest one in this movie, but I find it uncomfortable that he dared his son to streak. I mean what kind of parent does that? It is a funny visual gag on censoring Bart’s penis until revealing it but it’s still weird that his dad dared him to do it. Also why does officer Lou shoot the skateboard when Officer Wiggum was telling him to pull over? Sure he doesn’t know that Bart is gonna stop when he reaches Krusty Burger but it’s a reckless move because he could’ve shot the kid. And how long exactly was he cuffed to the pole? I wanna guess an hour but based on the sunset, it looks like he was there forever. I like that Lisa succeeds in her attempt to save the lake from increasing pollution but how did she convince the town to attend a town meeting when they all ignored her door to door campaign? I like she has another love interest because that normally happens on the show but Colin never appeared in an episode after this, it almost feels pointless having him when they could’ve reused another love interest and it would’ve worked. Even the pig Plopper has appeared on the show instead of this kid. Also how is she home as the dome arrives when other kids like Martin was at school? This was out of character because she’s the kind of kid that would go to school everyday. I know the show is regularly unrealistic but this creates a massive knot in my brain. I know Marge is always oblivious to Homer’s antics but how did she not notice the silo in the backyard when she’s mostly at home? I know it’s hilarious that it’s Homer’s fault for the dome to happen but if a donut shop is shutting down, they will not give away free donuts, which I find a lazy excuse for Homer to make his mistake. And lastly, Cargill does notice the escape attempt but only after Homer intervened. How did none of his cameras alert him that people were attempting to escape? I know he gets distracted by Cletus but something should’ve happened before Homer showed up. And lastly, Maggie is the coolest baby considering the show revealing she’s actually an alien but it’s lazy that her first word is ‘sequel’ during the credits sequence. A sequel does sound cool but you’re giving our hopes up as that hasn’t happened yet and I don’t think it will anymore. If you somehow are able to ignore all of this, you’ll still be laughing as much as I did. As the returning cast from the series, they are all on point playing the characters they’ve played for years and are probably at their best here. For the new cast member, Albert Brooks was hilarious as Russ Cargill. I like how he is a parody of people that are mad with power. He had good intentions but just got carried away. We are reminded that Homer Simpson is one of the funniest characters in animated history. Every time he gets hurt or stupid decision, you can’t love how gullible he is. Whenever we see him put aside his selfishness to do good just shows human can be and the movie again does a good job reflecting that. Marge has put up with her husband’s shit for years because she always saw the good in him and I respect that here, she helped him realize that the world doesn’t evolve around him. I know from experience that there are people like Lisa Simpson that come off annoying when it comes to caring about the experiment but if there aren't people like her, than the world would have been doomed already. So I actually like that they continue this arc for her here. And as for Bart, he will always be the boy that is reckless due to being misguided, which is what makes him funny. However, you can't help but enjoy that he was searching for it when bonding with Ned Flanders. It is a shame that it didn't continue after this movie because it would've been interesting to see it progress. However, we'll always enjoy the bickering Bart and Homer have over their friendly neighbor. In short, The Simpsons Movie is one of those movies that will always find a way to you chuckle no matter what. So whatever kind of fan you are when it comes to The Simpsons, I hope you enjoy this movie as much as I have.
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