In Continuum.

The Simpsons Movie



OK, fine. I am probably a few generations behind everybody else around the world, but at least I finally caught the movie in the comfort of my home. Let's just leave out the details about how I obtained the film on my computer, and say that it was through completely legal means - really. Anyway, I'm not sure why I missed it in the theaters when it was released, but I guess this is just one of those films you are just not fated to watch in the cinemas. Pretty much like the second part of the Pirates trilogy, when I didn't have the time to watch it on either weekends, and nobody was free to watch it with me either. But that's OK, since the second Pirates movie turned out to be a film that wasn't even worth the money I rented it for. I skipped the third movie altogether - it wasn't even worth the time to download it.

Anyway, everybody knows The Simpsons family. If you've watched television, you are bound to have been influenced by this family - no matter if you are a fan or not. I can't say that I am a fan of The Simpsons, because I have never seen a whole season on television before, though they showed it at six o'clock in the evening for a period of time on Channel 5 in the past. I've watched a lot of episodes, but that doesn't make you automatically a fan, since The Simpsons has four hundred episodes out there. Even if you have watched a hundred episodes of Simpsons - which I haven't - you aren't even a quarter of the way through the saga yet. Even if you are a person like me, there would be a character from the cartoon that you love. It's just impossible to run away from the grasp the cartoon has on the TV-watching population, because that's the kind of power the citizens of Springfield has on the world.

There were skeptics spreading words around before the movie was released, saying that the movie is going to be a sell-out movie, that it is being released about ten years too late. In a way, you cannot deny the arguments the skeptics gave, because in a way the movie is released a little too late. Four hundred episodes later, the series have been coming to a standstill, relying much of its jokes on slapstick humor - or worse. Recycled jokes are just part of the reason why The Simpsons isn't as popular in America as it used to in the past. What made The Simpsons popular was because of how fresh it felt with every season they showed. The way the characters made fun of anything from politics to celebrities was something never seen before on modern day cartoons.

Cartoons were a specialty for children. It started off with the Mickey Mouse cartoons, the Popeye cartoons, then the Transformers and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came along. All those cartoons were targeted at children, and adults were restricted to news, talk shows, drama serials and the likes. That was until The Simpsons arrived on the television of every household, and that changed the nature of television altogether. Cartoons were no longer for children only, but adults as well. The parodies and the satire jokes made in The Simpsons made it a sort of benchmark, and it distanced itself from all the other shows on television. It became so popular that the color of America was no longer red - Coca Cola, Marlboro, all red - but yellow all over.

Despite all the cynicisms from the critics and even the fans, the film was released about half a month ago, and all the worries and the complaints were blown away. The movie not only appealed to audiences who were less of a fan, but also to the audiences who were more than just fans. It had enough gags and jokes to pay tribute to the television episodes, but also enough gags and jokes for the normal everyday viewers to enjoy. A lot of hidden and inside jokes were inserted into the film itself - the ambulance by the Springfield gorge, anyone? - and those certainly pleased a lot of fans out there. So the criticisms died down after the film received raving reviews from all around. Suddenly, the TV-to-Cinema adaptation trend has hope all over again. After all, the makers of The Simpsons did have over a dozen different scripts written over the years, and desperately found ways to please audiences from all around. I'm glad that they picked this script, because it had a certain coherence throughout the film that I greatly enjoyed.

The Simpsons Movie begins with Homer's laziness. He adopted a pig from a local restaurant, after Crusty decided to slaughter it. Bringing it home, Homer collected the droppings of the pig - and part of his own - into a giant silo outside his house. Marge wasn't too happy about the existence of the pig, especially after the events that happened in the church that involved grandpa sputtering some seemingly nonsensical prophecies about the end of the world. So Homer was forced to dump the silo into a recycling plant, and that was the original plan until he was lured to the local donut shop that was giving away free donuts. Pressed for time, Homer decided to dump the silo into the local river, and thus polluting the town's water supply. The government got involved in the whole issue, and decided to quarantine the whole town under a giant glass dome. Hell breaks loose when the silo that Homer dumped into the river was found, with his own name written on the side of it. The town of Springfield turns against the whole Simpsons family, forcing them to escape from the town and to Alaska for refuge.

That is the overall synopsis of the film, and there is a whole lot more to expect for sure. In a Simpsons movie, you shouldn't expect a lot of plot. Like the cartoons that came after The Simpsons like South Park and Family Guy, both shows relied heavily on random jokes that's incoherent all around. However, that is certainly not the case for this movie, surprisingly. A lot of events throughout the movie may seem like they were put there for the sake of the humor - which worked - but we will see their significance as the movie progresses till the climax. Like I mentioned before, you are not going to be disappointed by the film's humor. Because if this joke flops, the next joke is going to be around the corner. It is the kind of humor that a comedy needs, the kind of momentum and continuum that lasts throughout the movie, without giving the audience a moment to breathe at all. Every minute of the film is jam-packed with jokes and gags, and it is impossible not to laugh.

But amidst all the parodies - the Titanic reference, the violence - Itchy running a flagpole through Scratchy, the action - explosions!, the nudity - Bart's under-aged cartoon genital, the romance - Homer and Marge...you don't want to know, we see the most important aspect of the whole series itself - family values. A lot of people may cringe at this aspect of the film, but I feel that that is perhaps the most effective aspect of the series itself. Despite all the ridiculous stunts, the fights and arguments, the family always stick together no matter what happens. I must say, that scene in the movie when Homer arrives home from the bar in Alaska and sees the tape that Marge made for him had me crying like a baby. OK, I wasn't really crying over a Simpsons movie, but it was a touching scene that had me drop my chopsticks in front of the computer screen and smile at the same time. It is the kind of rare scenes in the show that makes it brilliant. Of course, the show is about being rude and crude without trying to be rude and crude. But underneath those, there is also this layer of warmth and brilliance for the audience to appreciate.

In this summer, if you are going to watch just one movie, forget about Transformers. This movie is the movie to watch if you only have enough money for one. The fears of not liking the movie because you've never watched a single episode can be tossed out of the window, because there is going to be something in this movie that is going to appeal to everybody out there. I laughed so hard throughout the movie that my mother was halfway through an emergency call to the hospital, thinking that my asthma attack was back. I was hyper-ventilating in my bedroom, and it shouldn't be confused with my social agenda - if you know what I mean. My favorite jokes were everything that involved Homer, or rather Homer's selfishness. Look out for Homer as he is being sucked into a sinkhole in the garden. I laughed so bad that my mother hung up the phone to the hospital and dialed the number to the local asylum instead. This is definitely the movie to watch this summer, if you haven't got anything else in mind. Seriously, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker can sidestep for Homer and his family. Because they are the rulers of the summer. And no Homer, this is not the best comedy of the year so far. This, is the best comedy of the year. Really.

Now, where are the donuts.

Oh, I mean. Doooooooooooooonuts.