IMDb user comments for
The Simpsons Movie (2007)

advertisement

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 67:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

667 comments in total

---

362 out of 549 people found the following comment useful :-
I'm so glad it didn't suck!!!, 25 July 2007

Author: rayato from Puerto Rico

Let me just say I had my doubts. The last couple of seasons of 'The Simpsons' have been lackluster at best and I genuinely thought that their chance to make a great Simpsons film passed roughly 10 years ago. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I am a huge Simpsons nerd and it is my privilege to say that "The Simpsons Movie" belongs in the very small group of classic Simpsons episodes ("Bart the Daredevil", "Mr. Plow", etc.) Very funny and very timely. Great animation and some nice cameos.

Really don't want to give any spoilers so I'll just say if you're a Simpsons fan: you will love this movie. And if you agree that the Simpsons lost their edge, you will be pleasantly surprised as was I. 8.5/10

---

315 out of 523 people found the following comment useful :-
Very funny, as expected, 21 July 2007

Author: Mister_Milich from United States

I just got back from Springfield, Vermont where the premiere took place, and I had the great luck of seeing this one for free. From beginning to end it was non-stop laughs. There was some lewdness which could never be done on TV to offer an added treat to adults (many of which have been watching for 15+ years). The epic visual fashion the movie is presented in (along with some minor CGI) really makes it stand out from its television counterpart. Some people maybe be upset that their favorite characters didn't appear, or didn't have enough screen time, but to please everyone would be impossible. The Simpsons has hundreds of characters each with their own fan base, and to incorporate every character thoroughly would make the movie far too long and incoherent. My only (minor) qualm was with the absence of Sideshow Bob.

The film hit the mark and delivered the goods. A must-see for any fan of The Simpsons, or anyone looking for a good laugh.

---

145 out of 208 people found the following comment useful :-
"That's good..but not great", 27 July 2007

Author: jdwhite79 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

My thoughts on the movie can be summed up by that Homer Simpson quote above (and if you are the type of person who recognizes that quote and remembers what scene it is from then you probably share my sentiments).

The movie was decent, better than anything produced in the last 5-6 years, but still far short of the glory days (Seasons 5 - 9).

Here is basically what kept this movie from being really great:

1) very minimal focus on supporting characters...some characters (Sideshow Bob, Skinner, Supernintendo Chalmers, Skinner's mother, Apu, Gil, Groundskeeper Willie, Milhouse's parents, Sideshow Mel) were completely nonexistent. Oh, and Flanders (the secondary character who was featured the most) had 1 funny line at most. (the one about Buddha).

2) I understand that a movie needs a much deeper plot since it is much longer than an episode but this was just focused too much on the plot and not enough on creating worthwhile funny gags. Also, episodes usually have 2-3 different ideas going on at the same time but this didn't really (at least outside the Simpson family). There was the whole Simpsons running away which turned into saving Springfield thing. The only other plot ideas were the Homer & Marge (which has been done at least, what 5 times already) and Homer & Bart (which has also been done several times).

3) Most of the humor in the film was shallow, slapstick humor, not the good deep sarcastic, witty humor we've come to know and appreciate (And you call them steamed hams despite the fact that they are obviously grilled..Well, I,..Um, One thing I should....). It seems to me that this movie was clearly made with the masses in mind (as compared to hardcore fans) and the type of humor/jokes reflected this.

An example: I thought the following line was one of the funniest in the movie: Cletus: You know how I'm able to that trick with my thumb Cargill: 4 generations (or 40 years I can't remember which he says) of successful inbreeding?

In the theater like 3 people laughed (and I was one of them). Yet at the start of the movie when Homer was trying to hammer the nail and he jammed the hammer in his eye, the whole crowd (except for me) was going nuts.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie..I just didn't love it..I don't remember any lines/gags/scenes which are so memorable as to repeat over and over again (i.e. Pray for Mojo, Steamed Hams, Homer buying the matter transporter--"2 dollars..um, well, I don't know.... I'll give you 35 cents"...)

Oh and one other thing. If you see a review from a person who says that this was the funniest movie ever and non-stop laughs, etc..they probably weren't born before 1990 and haven't seen any Simpsons episodes pre-2000 because there's no way any hardcore tried and true Simpsons fan would have come to that conclusion after seeing this.

---

90 out of 109 people found the following comment useful :-
Not The Simpsons I grew up with..., 29 July 2007

Author: gregory43323 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I'll be honest, I don't think any of the reviewers that have given this movie 10 stars have seen any episodes of the show pre-2000.

I went into the movie thinking it would probably be decent. I figured it would probably be in the style of the newer episodes but with better overall material. That's pretty much how it turned out. Anyone who says it was a return to the older *better* Simpsons is kidding themselves.

The Simpsons greatness was based, in my opinion, on two things: characters that we imagine existing in our society (think the comic book guy, Moe, Flanders) and simply hilarious and very quotable lines. This formula has since been replaced by humor that is situationally based, and quite frankly, just not very funny.

I saw this movie yesterday afternoon, and I can hardly think of one line that had me cracking up. There were some funny moments, yes, but nothing comparable to the brilliant one-liners from the show's glory years.

---

173 out of 279 people found the following comment useful :-
Horrible, Don't Watch!, 30 July 2007

Author: loverocket44 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The Simpsons in its prime was perhaps the best show on TV with incisive satire on American life and humor that didn't rely solely on slapstick and stupidity. Around season 9, the show went precipitously downhill and never recovered. The show, although always a cartoon, is now as infantile and ridiculous as cartoons are perceived to be.

The Simpsons Movie is like an 18th season episode stretched out 3x as long. There are a few funny jokes, but it becomes painful and tiresome to sit thru dozens of missed jokes to get to a funny one. The plot is inane, concerning a giant dome put on Springfield to hold in the pollution and the government wants to blow up the city to get rid of it. What made the Simpsons great was its more subtle satire and it at least tried to stay grounded within reality. The show is like a parody of itself, the same kind of stupid sitcom it once made fun of. Replacing Alf Clausen's usual score with Hans Zimmer is also a terrible misfire. The straightforward orchestral treatment for the show is very distracting.

It's a shame this movie and this show continue to make a fortune, no one ever went broke catering to the lowest common denominator. This movie will appeal to the same demographic that loves Ace Ventura and the Ernest movies and will undoubtedly spawn a sequel. It just angers me that Troy McClure wasn't joking in an old episode when he said the Simpsons will continue to be around until they are unprofitable.

---

296 out of 534 people found the following comment useful :-
fear not folks, it is very funny, 25 July 2007

Author: a-bark from United Kingdom

what more can I say. the movie is a return to the glory days of the show, those ever yellow times when Homer jumped the gorge, when alien ants threatened the earth and the mono rail came to town. If any of that made sense to you then this is the film to go for this weekend. It is a laugh a minute, unlike most comedy films which seem to think funny is a dirty word. I have to say it is NOT really a kids film (although a child sitting near me was crying with laughter) as some of the lines are very naughty and near the bone. I am keen to see it again to catch all the gags I missed. And thank God Ricky Gervais was not allowed anywhere near it (his TV episode stunk!). So if you're up to you knees in flood water or suffering from some other global disaster right now and fancy a good time your local multiplex is the place to go. Lets face it we all need a laugh right now.

---

84 out of 114 people found the following comment useful :-
Hole in the D'oh-nut not too large to jump a shark!, 28 July 2007

Author: Drew Campbell from Scotland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

'The Simpsons' TV show is best in the business for plot twists, outrageous reversals, whiplash satire and one-liners, making the best episodes as satisfying as many great films. Topping that - or even matching it - with the long awaited movie was always going to be a challenge.

I was entertained but, truthfully, no more than a middling episode of the series. The richness of the Springfield lore and background characters is sidelined to focus on the family itself, with too much Homer in particular - yes, I never thought I'd say that, but it's true.

We love 'The Simpsons' for its frenetic pace; it's clear here the writers struggled with the structure for a longer format. Possibly a Robert Altman / 'Nashville' approach would have worked better, or maybe something like "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", allowing us to see the great range of characters and supporting a stronger, over-arching story.

The decision to focus almost exclusively on the family itself brought out the TV show's occasional tendency towards sentimentality - Colin & Lisa? Went nowhere. Flanders & Bart? Didn't buy it for a second. Oval Office scenes? Rainer Wolfcastle would have been funnier, or GWB passing the buck that bit edgier. This isn't meant to be The Waltons!

More playfulness with the film format itself would have been welcome too - the opening 'Itchy & Scratchy' sequence and Homer's response were great but, as it turned out, too little too early for the film seldom ventured from the straight & narrow thereafter. Maybe Terry Gilliam to direct Simpsons II?

Early rumours (some time ago, I know) suggested the Simpsons Movie would be the final word on the show, but the commitment to another couple of seasons meant the film lost that seat-of-the-pants, anything-could-happen edge. I really believe the team should have one last hurrah with a final movie. Just don't try to jump the shark - blast it out of the water!

Get radical, guys - that's when you're at your best!

---

191 out of 330 people found the following comment useful :-
The long overdue simpsons movie is a hilarious and witty piece of entertainment, 25 July 2007

Author: Merklin from United Kingdom

The simpsons movie is witty,fast paced, touching, hugely entertaining and most importantly: laugh out loud funny.And if your a simpsons fan who's loved every episode , thats all you'll need from it.

However if , like me , your an obsessive fan who's noticed a drop in quality on the show from the late nineties onwards you'll see some problems. You'll see that structure wise the movie is basically an extended episode.You'll notice that the villain is a Hank Scorpio rip off. You'll feel that a lot of the plot points and character drama seem all too familiar.But in spite of all this , in spite of being a film based on a show that exhausted its best gags long ago, the simpsons movie is still absolutely hilarious and i take my hat off to the creators for managing to make it so.

A simpsons movie in the early nineties (when the show was in its prime) would have been better, but the very , very , very funny one we have here in '07 works just fine. Funny stuff.

---

138 out of 235 people found the following comment useful :-
I don't know....I just don't know., 28 July 2007

Author: SamuelChase from United States

Just got out of the theater. Don't get me wrong, I was entertained throughout the duration of the film. But I rarely got any belly laughs out of it. And I just wanted it to be...well, smarter and funnier.

The animation and production values are awesome. Just seeing Springfield and all the characters on the big screen is enough to make this movie worth going to. But I was rather let down in terms of the comedy. It seemed like it was dumbed down to give it more mass appeal and that's disappointing. I also had annoying little kids sitting around me and their father refused to shut them up...which somewhat ruined the experience. The first 45 min are good, then it dips in humor.

In conclusion, while the South Park movie took advantage of the new medium by pushing the envelope and producing hilarious, brilliant satire...The Simpsons Movie seems to do the opposite, getting watered down in the process.

---

89 out of 138 people found the following comment useful :-
Maybe I just expected too much..., 26 July 2007

Author: zuriel from Berlin, Germany

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Maybe I just expected too much. For the last two years I've been excited about The Simpsons Movie, I could hardly wait for it to come out. I grew up with the Simpsons and, as many others, have watched about every episode at least 10 times. Since I was so eager to see it, I went to the first screening on the day of release. I was so sure this movie couldn't be bad, since South Park and Family Guy made great feature versions of their TV-shows. I was wrong.

Right on from the beginning, I had to realize that the film would not come up to my expectations at all. It began with the Itchy and Scratchy scene, right in the beginning. The typical absurd brutality and violence of the Itchy and Scratchy Cartoons have been softened down, so that after getting stabbed the cat doesn't even bleed. It seems the makers of the film passed on the violence to get a lower rating. An understandable step on one hand but after 18 years of staying true to the Simpsons-Style, very disappointing on the other. However, next to this little detail that bothered me, the whole plot is constructed relatively poor. All the time, not knowing that the film is only 85 minutes long, I thought "Okay, now the film must start and come to it's point". This thought would stay in my head until the end. The story is everything but sweeping.

Also I didn't like that The Simpsons Family are about the only characters that play a part in the plot. There is just a little bit of Flanders but almost no Mr. Burns, no Moe, no Major Quimby, no Sideshow Bob, no Krusty and so on. They all have about a line and that's it. Instead of the already existing beloved characters, a pig is introduced, which disappears as inconspicuously as it was introduced. But, the most disappointing fact was the jokes. They couldn't be cheaper and more harmless . Missing the ambiguousness and depth of the the jokes in the TV-version, it seems as they have only been designed for a very young audience. The humor reminded me a lot of the one from movies like Ice Age (which would be okay if I weren't talking about the Simpsons).

Also, I missed a political level, as seen in the TV-series or the South Park movie.

All in all, since the plot and jokes are sloppy and faceless, I wouldn't recommend the film to anyone who likes the Simpsons TV-series.

---

---

Page 1 of 67:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Ratings
Awards	Newsgroup reviews	External reviews
Parents Guide	Official site	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user comments	Your vote history