The Greatest Trick

Near the beginning of The Simpsons Movie, Homer turns to the audience and announces they are all suckers for paying to see something that is on television all the time. Evidently creator Matt Groening has gamely decided to wear a certain amount of cynical bad faith on his sleeve, apparently questioning his own judgement in allowing his monumental television creation a cinematic outing. And he is right to question it.

The Simpsons is unarguably a television animation milestone. At once subversive, satirical, hilariously funny, yet good-natured, and always with family values at their core, the series has gradually become part of the establishment. As such, it lost a lot of its edge in later series, but still manages to be consistently entertaining. Even if one disregards the main cast, there are literally hundreds of smaller characters who all have their own fervent following amongst viewers. The series shows no sign of coming to an end given the seemingly endless story possibilities.

Unfortunately, the film is not in the same class. After a promising start, in which Homer’s usual buffoonery causes an environmental disaster that dooms Springfield, the jokes begin to fall flat. A number of potentially interesting subplots – Lisa falling in love, Bart seeing Ned Flanders as a surrogate father – go nowhere, and many beloved characters do not make an appearance. Obviously, in a programme with this many sub-characters not all were going to get screen time, but I for one wish there had been more scenes with Mr Burns. However, at least Itchy and Scratchy get an amusing opening number involving the moon and several nuclear weapons.

All the usual vocal talents are present and correct (Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, et al), plus there are a few amusing cameos, including rock band Green Day and Tom Hanks. The animation is a bit more detailed and cinematic, as one would expect, with director David Silverman revelling in its “2-D” glory. Yet this still feels like an extended average episode, and therefore unsustainable over 90 minutes.

Politically, the film appears to come down on the Al Gore side of the fence with regard to environmental issues, and as such is a little on the preachy side (ironically, during a crowd scene, certain characters rail against preachy environmentalism). Morally, its celebration of family values can hardly be knocked, but it’s been done so much more entertainingly in the television series. The humour is a little ruder than usual, with a couple of gags Groening couldn’t get away with on television, but its still feels tame compared to the cutting-edge humour of the early series.

There is nothing I can say that will put off Simpsons completists from seeing this. However, if you are new to The Simpsons might I suggest checking out some of the brilliant earlier TV episodes instead, such as There’s no disgrace like home, Life in the Fast Lane, Itchy and Scratchy and Marge, And Maggie Makes Three, and my all time favourite story, the brilliant two-part Who shot Mr Burns. These sublime examples are a far better introduction to what some consider the greatest television series of all time than this lacklustre picture.

Simon Dillon, July 2007.