I will, however, tell you what I thought of it. I thought that it was reasonably good for what it was: a ninety-minute episode on the big screen. After all, there is no cinematography in a movie such like this, and any depth is an illusion. There were jokes and scenes that were laugh out loud funny. The story wasn’t afraid to make fun of itself or its audiences. It made use of many stock Simpsons’ bits (although not all), and I’m sure that if I was a more regular viewer of the series, I would have caught more. They attempted to do a little-bit more than usual with some of the animation (going for that deeper feel), and it was certainly better than Sponge-Bob. The music, as always with this series, was excellent (although I was surprised to not see Alf Clausen in the credits). It was certainly worth what we paid for it, but then again, we had two free passes and only had to buy a kids ticket.
I’ll also note that the theatre was relatively crowded, almost full. Given this far into the release cycle for this movie, that is remarkable. It certainly has had more staying power than Hairspray or Harry Potter 5 in terms of audience. People were actually singing along with various parts (“Spiderpig, Spiderpig”), so this may be on its way to becoming a cult favorite.
The Simpsons is a perfect summer movie, for those looking for non-action-adventure summer movies. It was brainless escapism (d’oh, just like Homer). It was a wonderful way to beat the heat on Labor Day afternoon… plus Nancy Cartwright rocks (I have to say that as she is the honorary mayor of Northridge).
As for the promo reels, there were mercifully few:
- Horton Hears a Who. Eh. Now, if they were making a musical of Seussical, which tells the same plot, using animation, that would be awesome.
- Run Fat Boy Run. Double Eh. Run from this movie–at least the trailer doesn’t sell it well.
- Good Luck Chuck. This seemed like a cute movie at the Showtime level (i.e., worth watching on Showtime, but not the big screen), until the showed the scene with the fat lady. Sorry, they lost my business. Fat people seem to be the one stereotype Hollywood can still insult, but I don’t like it.
- Alvin and the Chipmunks. They are trying to appeal to the baby-boomer audience with CGI, but there are those of us that still remember the original Alvin Show, and I don’t think this will cut it. It is on the level of The Garfield Movie.
So what will our next movie be? Usually, we see a movie on Christmas, and it will most likely be Sweeney Todd (with Johnny Depp). I saw the original back when it was first at the Ahmanson in the 1980s; we’ll be seeing it again in the revision early next year. I love the music and love the show. Also sticking in the mind is the preview for Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium which comes out in November, however I don’t know the buzz on that.
