KidZone
Simpson's Movie Review, It's D'oh-Liteful!
By Dominic Benjamin
Aug 2, 2007, 15:52

The Simpson's Movie had been hyped for years, expected for decades-ish and had expectations it couldn't possibly be expected to live up to. This year saw the face-first flop of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force film, which died of its own accord from a combination of factors as plain as the nose on my face, sometimes stolen by my prankster brother.

First thing to bear in mind is that, as journalists, we don't pay for things. Not big things, not little things, but we paid for this. We also don't go out to movies at convential theaters, but we went out to this one, and we did so on opening day following a good nine days of daily countdown. That means that for it to come off as good to us, it first had to overcome the cost of the tickets, the pop and the popcorn for five bonafide film critics. No film has done that for us since Spiderman 2.

In fact, we haven't seen a movie in a theater since Spiderman 2. We've gone to the community center films, where we ran fellow filmgoers ragged with frustration, and we've been to the drive-in a number of times, but the latter is a controlled environment.

It was suspected that this movie could be the first since pretty much forever to hold our attention enough to make it a bearable experience for us, our handlers and those stuck within about a 10-seat radius of us. It was that good and better and, as promised, I will tell you why.

The film is well over an hour, but flies by quicker than a two-part (44-minute) episode of anything else. Even with a three, four and seven-year-old in attendance attention was never lacking.

The subtle irreverence of the television show is spiced up a bit, but not out of keeping with the spirit of the characters. I read a review that said the producers reserved the right to pull the plug if the suits interfered, and the outcome shows. Things you just know Homer would do get to show up in ways the television version never could.

After the opening gag and credit roll the film kicks into gear with a dare contest between Bart and Homer going way too far. Farther than Fox would ever air on a Sunday night most certainly, but the sort of thing you just know they do when the cameras aren't rolling.

From there you get the most fleeting, cartoon nudity you could ever imagine, used to flawlessly deliver the first real guffaw from the grownups. Later in the film you get to see how crass Homer would really be if he were really the lazy drunkard we know him to be.

And the film doesn't lag. Albert Brooks delivers his usually brilliant (and perfectly Albert Brooks) Simpson's performance, and the usual voice cast -- all in their original roles thankfully -- do something like their best work, except better. It's been reported that they had to do dozens of takes in lieu of their usual handful at most, and the extra effort really paid off.

If it's possible for a sitcom cartoon leading lady to actually stir emotion Marge does it.

There's the usual requirement for suspension of disbelief as in any cartoon, and it doesn't appear in anyway that detracts from the total enjoyment.

If I had to suggest an improvement, it would be free refills because once wasn't enough for me. If the parents had a complaint, it would be that it wasn't long enough. What can I say, 18-years of anticipation, the payoff had better be good, and it was, oh boy it was.

As a result, despite some negative reviews and mediocre box-office expectation, the film beat the highest box-office expectation ($30-million) by more than double ($79-million) and the ratings on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Box Office Mojo have been exceptional… and that's with a reputation to live up to that no movie could satisfy.

Oh, and it hasn't been released internationally yet, so the biggest part of the box office is yet to come.

Don't download this film illegally and don't wait for the DVD. You've waited long enough, you deserve the real deal. And it's worth it.