The Simpsons Movie

[Malvern]

The Simpsons, the family everybody loves and no-one wants to emulate. They almost single handedly keep the Fox network afloat and the mere mention of their name causes most to smile. Why, then, was the film so...average? 17 years and 400 episodes Groening and Co decided a film was the way to go when they should simply have stuck with their tried and tested mockery of the world encased in a 22 minute (minus ad breaks) episode every week.

I'm not saying the film was bad, the opening allowed the film to open itself up to mockery with Homer stating, while sitting in a cinema watching an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon "Why are we paying to watch this crap when we get to see it for free on TV?", then points to the audience and states "Only suckers would do that, meaning you."

I have to say that scene was probably the funniest one. Now, I'm a big fan of the yellow family, having watched probably nearly every episode there ever was, including the scrawled jumbled mess that was a slot on the Tracey Ulman show. I find the humour first rate, the sarcasm is delivered by the plate load and the sight gags fall over themselves, there are so many. I love that about the TV show. The film, however, tries too hard and fails in most places. At one point Homer starts to see the error of his ways and Bart finds a sensitive side. The need for this is almost unexplained and albeit unnecessary as the humour from The Simpsons comes directly from Homer's ignorance of his actions and Bart's need to create mayhem without thought of consequence.

77 minutes long, I think I would rather have watch three episodes back to back, it would have made me laugh more. Most of my disappointment stems from the fact that the first 20 minutes seemed to contain all the best (although not that funny) gags and the rest of the film tried too hard to keep it going.

By the end of the film I was left feeling disappointed and considering asking for a refund. In a nutshell, you have to watch The Simpsons Movie, whether you're a fan or not, to see what I mean. 22 minutes is funny, 77 minutes is too long and not funny enough. If (when) they do another movie, I'll probably wait for the DVD release and then I'll probably borrow a copy from a friend.

Groening and Co should, as I said, stick to the tried and tested TV series and leave the animated comedies to the people who have the patience to fill up to 90 minutes with comedy (All 3 Shrek films come to mind).

Go and watch it just to say you have but remember 22 is funnier than 77.