Upon the Simpsons Movie

- The Simpson's Movie opens today. I am going to see it with my buddy Kevin. We've watched countless episodes together, including every episode from the first 14 or so seasons at least once. This movie has long been rumored to be in the offing, and serves as an interesting landmark for fans like me who have been with this series since the early 90's. I am hopeful that they will do the series justice, but also a bit nervous. With so many season of the show, there have been decided shifts in the focus and humor of the show. Bart-centric stretches where he became Dennis the Menace for the 90's generation, Homer centric seasons with dumb Homer, outrageous Homer, over-the-top Homer and cliche Homer. Plot driven episodes and gag-to-gag episodes. Side characters got story lines that the Simpsons merely aided as asides. I have always loved the show, but some of the choices haven't been my favorite. I hope the writers have done a good job, and that the right writers were selected(for my tastes). It will be hard for me to ever laugh harder than I did at the South Park movie, where I was practically on the floor. One of the best parts about the Simpson's, as opposed to Family Guy or South Park, is the jokes that grow on you during re-watchings. I have a feeling that this movie will be similar, and could stand the test of time well.

I will try to log back in to give my thoughts later.

UPDATE

Well, we went to see the movie in probably the worst choice of venue I've made in a while. Green Acres Mall in the huge ampitheater was a problem from the beginning. Actually getting into the theater itself was difficult enough, as we had to duck through a hole in a fence which had seemingly been erected around the entire facility. After a quick run through the metal detector, we sat with an audience who were clearly there to catch the movie on the day it opened, seemingly based on the fact that the Simpsons has been famous and popular for a long-time.

Having our aforementioned long-time affinity for the show, my buddy and I would often be the only two people laughing at a nuanced joke, or a classic throwback gag. Other times, the theater would erupt at some of the pushing-the-envelope moments, which were more sensational than humorous in my opinion. The plot itself was a decent vehicle for finally getting the Simpsons into a theater, but I did find myself mentally cataloging episodes I felt would have been better if they were expanded to fill the same time that the movie ran. (Who Shot Mr. Burns, Stonecutters). No singing was another disappointment.

I will gladly revisit the movie again, and it will probably grow on me as episodes of the show tend to do. However, I think that on of the prevailing opinions on why a movie never would/should get made held true. The Simpsons is such a long-running, layered and textured show, which means many different things to its audience, that a movie couldn't hope to caputure or do justice to all of it.

(Also, never go to see any movies at Green Acres....trust me.)