First Review of the Simpsons Movie

[Tara Brady]

Here's another...



THE SIMPSONS MOVIE



(Directed by David Silverman. Featuring the voices of Dan Castellaneta,
Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer,
Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden and Albert Brooks. 87mins. Cert PG. Opens
July 26th)



"Personality, in our sense, is a Simpsonian invention, and is not only the
greatest originality of The Simpsons but also the authentic cause of their
perpetual pervasiveness." So Harold Bloom did not write in 'Shakespeare: The
Invention of the Human', though he might have done if his reference library
were a little more hip.

   If our consciousness is dictated by language and our language is peppered
with Simpsonian discourse, then Homer Simpson, the finest slubberdegulliuon
of our age, is right there in our hardwiring. Forget *24 *and *The Sopranos*.
No other apparently "influential" show has the demographic reach, the smarts
or the stamina to actually imprint itself on our cerebral cortex. Matt
Groening, dear reader, is controlling and shaping your brain and there ain't
nothing you can do about it.

  If Shakespeare invented the modern human – and of *course* he did – then *The
Simpsons *have invented the postmodern human, a mercurial wonder capable of
bridging the gap between Thomas Pynchon and Grand Funk Railroad, Satyajit
Ray and Stan Lee, Vilgot Sjöman and Mel Gibson, Stanley Kubrick and Ed Wood
Jr.

    If you're one of the faithful, someone who has spent the past month
singing - "Spider-pig, Spider-pig/ Does whatever a Spider-pig does", then
you hardly need this review. In fact, 500 random words making numerous
threatening references to the UN and repetition of the immortal phrase
"Screw Flanders" should have sufficed just as well.

   If, however, you're one of the preterite, a clichéd malcontent who
insists that The Simpsons Aren't As Good As They Used To Be, then you're a
long way from home buddy. Even ignoring the fact that Season 18 has been the
best in four years, you still have the new *Simpsons Movie* to show you up
as the nitwit you most likely are.

Between them, some of the finest writers to ever grace the closing credits –
everybody but the otherwise occupied Conan O'Brien and Brad Bird has showed
up to the party – have forged a plot grand enough to justify a jump across
media and Springfield Gorge. A series of rollicking sight gags quickly segue
into what Kent Brockman calls the Trappuccino Crisis – Homer meets pig,
Homer bonds with pig, Homer dumps silo of pig-poo into Springfield Lake
causing a toxic meltdown. President Schwarzenegger (actually Ranier
Wolfcastle), at the behest of power-mad environmentalist Russ Cargill
(Albert Brooks in Scorpio mode), isolates the town within a giant glass dome
prompting its inhabitants to hunt down America's best known family. They
escape to Alaska, only to learn from a Tom Hanks infomercial that the US
government now plans to blow Springfield off the face of the earth.

Fans will almost certainly relish the incidental details – Ralph Wiggum
performing the 20th Century Fox trumpet blast, Stampy the elephant charging
at his glassy prison, a nod to Kubrick in the opening seconds – but unlikely
ingénues should be equally pleased. For this belated big screen debut, the
mobs have never been bigger or angrier and everyone's skin is at its
absolute yellowist.

Nitpicking *Simpsons* geeks may be slightly disappointed in a tone much
closer to the Sam Simon vintage (seasons 1-4) than the heyday of Grimesy and
the like, but, as we've already noted, *The Simpsons Movie *features
Spider-pig. Enough said. Oh, except "Screw Flanders" and "Woo-hoo".



RATING – FOUR/FIVE




On 24/07/07, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Times Online
>
>
> http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article2118613.ece
>
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