The Simpsons Movie (PG)
Posted by xxrosannaxx on Wed, 25 Jul 2007.
Director: David Silverman
Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tree MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Albert Brooks
Since the first arrival on our screens of the yellow family in 1987, the world has been expectantly waiting the arrival of "The Simpsons Movie".
Trailers and marketing over the past few months have made the film out to be the blockbuster of the summer... something worth waiting all these years for. Before seeing the film, I did indeed wonder if all the best parts were crammed into the trailers, and it seems I was right.
The film features cameos from Tom Hanks and Greenday and the plot is focused around the environmental issue of pollution. All the characters use cell phones and the world in which they live seems a lot more modern than the Springfield we are used to in the television series.
When pollution levels in Lake Springfield hit a disastrous high, measures are taken to prevent the further dumping of waste in the lake. Meanwhile, in Church Grandpa has a premonition that bad things are going to happen, that they will all be trapped forever, because of a curly tail.
Soon enough, Homer falls in love with and adopts "Spider Pig" (later known as Harry Plopper) much to his family's dismay. This begins all of their problems, as Homer stupidly decides to dump the pig excrement in the lake.
As a result of this further pollution, the US government (led by Arnold Schwarzenegger) decide to enclose Springfield in a giant glass dome. This leads to the city running out of supplies are turning into a crime-ridden danger zone. When the inhabitants discover that this is all because of Homer, he and his family are forced to flee, and they somehow manage to escape from the dome.
The family soon settle down to a new life in Alaska. By this point spider pig has mysteriously disappeared.
They soon find out that the government plan to blow up Springfield, and when Homer refuses to go back and be a hero, Marge tells him she no longer loves him, takes the kids and leaves.
Eventually Homer does return, after being enlightened by the "boob lady". He saves the day and all is well again.
The film had many funny gags and jokes, the best of which was spider-pig. However, the plotline was strange and not particularly imaginative. Perhaps because there have been so many television episodes, the producers are running out of ideas?
To me, it certainly felt like an extended episode, and not the major blockbuster I was hoping for. Nevertheless, it made me laugh a lot.
I would recommend the film to all Simpsons fans, just remember not to expect too much.