The Simpsons Movie

If you had asked me back in 1999 how excited I would be, on a scale of 1-10, to go see The Simpsons Movie, I probably would have responded something along the lines of 27.5. Fast forward to 2007, and it’s in the solid 6-7 range. Being that I really haven’t seen a new episode since about 2001, that seems about right. I grew up memorizing episodes of seasons 4-9 and then for some reason, just stopped about there. And it’s not just me, it seems like every Simpsons fan I know stopped at roughly the same point. We also didn’t really watch new episodes on Sunday nights, we watched the hour of repeats that was on every weeknight. It wasn’t uncommon to watch 5 hours of The Simpsons a week. So how would the movie version stack up? I’d say, not too well.
I started the movie off in a pissed off mood because of the demographics involved in the theater I was at. I got to my seat 20 minutes before it was supposed to start and it was just me and a handful of guys in the 18-24 demographic. I guess these were the hardcore fans. After that, it was as I’d like to say, “not hardcore fans.” I sat next to a handful of 12 year old girls. They seemed genuinely interested in seeing the live action Alvin and the Chipmunks movie coming out this Christmas. Probably a day doesn’t go by when I don’t make at least one Simpsons reference that inevitably gets picked up by one of my friends. We don’t even think about it anymore, it’s just part of conversation. To other people who overhear, we sound like a bunch of idiots. Well, apparently those idiots thought enough of the movie to go see it and bring their youngest daughter. I felt like someone who followed an indie band through their first 2 albums, and the third one goes like 5 times platinum. It’s not the same feeling when something you thought was your own is bastardized to the general public.
After getting over this, and trying to enjoy the movie, it seemed like they fell back into their familiar “Homer’s a complete idiot and we won’t even try to make a plot that’s even remotely makes sense” thing that the past few seasons have been. Too many physical comedy gags (to the delight of Joe Q Public) and not enough witty one liners that I’ve come to enjoy. Also, is it me or does every movie based on a cartoon have to involve the main characters trying to save their town (i.e. South Park and Spongebob)? The movie stretched on too long as well. I was contemplating falling asleep during their excursion to Alaska which the only purpose I could tell was to add another state to the list Homer and the family has visited.
Finally, it really pissed me off that they basically gave a big F You to their fans from all these years. There were exactly two references to other episodes that I can remember (Homer and Bart going over Springfield Gorge and the running which state is Springfield in gag). Other than that, nothing. If I had been drinking I might have gotten up and yelled “And how many of you get that joke? Three of you? Fuck you all,” after the gorge scene. I sat in the theater until the credits were over waiting for Comic Book Guy to appear and say, “Worst Movie Ever,” because he has to right? They couldn’t not put that in somewhere. That’s just too easy a punch line, right? Unfortunately I was wrong.
Maybe I’m getting too worked up about this. Maybe sitting next to 12 year old girls set me off and that tainted my entire experience. Or maybe I’m right on the ball. Who knows? I’m probably too bitter at the world right now to tell the difference (and on that note, its back to work for this guy).