"The Simpsons Movie" (2007)

The Simpsons Movie

Grade: A

Is it okay to rank The Simpsons Movie as a Grade-A film on the same level as such cinematic classics as Day for Night and Fanny and Alexander? I saw the film in theaters when I was 11 years old and have probably watched it 20 times overall — is nostalgia getting the best of me? Am I a bad critic for putting my personal biases first and foremost? To quote another Grade-A movie: frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. The Simpsons Movie is a hilarious, heartwarming and surprisingly thoughtful film that still holds up today. A few more notes on The Simpsons Movie:

Directing:

With a production budget 15 times higher than your average Simpsons episode, director David Silverman and the team of tireless animators are able to devote more attention to detail than ever before: the backgrounds are better drawn, the color palette has more contrast and we also get to see a yellow animated penis. For a TV show that poked so much fun at the limitations of the medium, it’s great to see The Simpsons take advantage of the big screen while also staying true to its crude and irreverent small-screen roots.

Acting:

The usual suspects — Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Pamela Hayden and Tress MacNeille — all give versatile multi-character performances in a film that features pretty much every notable side character to ever set foot in Springfield. The best overall performance comes from Kavner, who gives Marge Simpson a range of genuine emotion rarely seen in the show. Outside the main cast, the other big winner is Albert Brooks, who delivers some of the film’s funniest lines as Russ Cargill (a messianic Hank Scorpio type).

Writing:

Every time I watch The Simpsons Movie — and I’ve watched it a lot through the years — I’m thoroughly impressed and surprised by how well the storyline works. Along with series creator Matt Groening, the film lists 10 other principal screenwriters among its architects, but never once does The Simpsons Movie feel disjointed. Likewise, it never feels like just another episode. This is a standalone 90-minute movie with a complete beginning, middle and end, and every core member of the Simpson family receives a fulfilling emotional journey. But the most important aspect of The Simpsons Movie is how funny it is: the jokes are just as rapid and hit just as hard as in the 1990s heyday, which is quite a feat considering that the show was already in a steady, constant decline by the time the movie was released.

Music:

To prove that this is indeed a real movie, famed composer Hans Zimmer lends his symphonic touch to the film, replacing longtime tunesmith Alf Clausen. He brings new motifs and a sweeping sense of drama and emotion that matches the surprisingly dramatic and emotional storyline. And, just for shits and giggles, we get Green Day performing Danny Elfman’s iconic theme music.

Ending (SPOILERS):

Not that The Simpsons has ever honored continuity, but the events of The Movie (e.g., the dome; Russ Cargill; Colin; Spider Pig; et al) are barely mentioned ever again in the TV series. As a result, there is a bit of retroactive unimportance applied to the film — was it all really just a 90-minute episode? Either way, The Simpsons Movie wraps up all, or most, of its plotlines in a successful and fulfilling manner, with the type of closure we don’t often see in the show. Does it match up to “Duffless,” “Homer’s Enemy” or “Bart Sells His Soul?” No. But it’s still a great addition to The Simpsons canon. And it does so on its own terms.

It would’ve been easy to make a film that rides the coattails of the greatest animated TV show ever; it’s much harder to make a film that adds to the legacy of the greatest animated TV show ever.

“I want 10,000 tough guys, and I want 10,000 soft guys to make the tough guys look tougher.” — Russ Cargill

**Why The Simpsons Movie gets an A**:

More than just a supersized episode, The Simpsons Movie is funny and fulfilling in a way that no one would’ve expected circa The Simpsons Season 18. Very rarely do TV shows successfully make the jump to the big screen without compromising their core values.

“The Simpsons Movie” (2007)