Forgotten Movie Review

Given this was the one film I got a chance to see this week I actually ostly enjoyed, I'm not sure how The Simpsons Movie slipped my mind yesterday, but it did. Probably because it was the first one I saw, and the pain from the other's partially obscured it. No use worrying about it, since I can try and discuss it today.

First off, I didn't laugh as much as I hoped I would, but there was laughter, so that's nice. The scene in particular I remember enjoying was when the townspeople come after Homer, but they're headed the wrong way, which causes Homer to lean out the window and laugh at them for that. Naturally, they hear him, and reverse course. There were other things, but I can't recall them now. Sadly, President Schwarzenegger didn't tickle my funny bone, and I had kind of thought he would. Maybe with more lines.

I must admit, Marge's video note for Homer got me. Overdone, sure, but this is Homer we're talking about. Subtlety is likely to be lost on him, so much like with Futurama's Calculon, you've got to go over the top a bit, talk about how you've lost faith, and can't be with him forever anymore, etc.

The problem I had with the movie is that there seemed to be too many things they wanted to poke fun at, and so it felt a bit scattershot at times. I think the primary bad guy initiated his evil plan because it netted him big bucks in government contracts, but I'm not sure about that. He could just have been an environmental extremist, or just plain nuts. Maybe that's a weakness of taking something normally done in half-hour segments, and stretching it out beyond that. The average plot isn't strong enough to sustain a whole movie, so it has to be a bit cobbled together. it was still enjoyable, there were just times where things seemed added in (Bart being drunk in the hotel room, or the Tom Hanks cameo).

Oh, I remembered something else that made me laugh! The scene of Bart and Flanders fishing, and Bart's immediate reaction when he loses Ned's fishing rod. I'm still not sure I believe Bart would turn to Flanders' for a father figure, not because he likes Homer that much, more because he seems so disdainful of Ned. But there were some interesting moments there, like the hot chocolate Flanders-style, though I must confess to a moment of nerdism. He started adding all those sprinkles, whipped topping, etc., and my brain said "Hey, Rod or Todd said a long time ago they weren't allowed to have sugar, what's the deal? Has Flanders truly loosened up? And wouldn't that have terrified these boys, so used to their father's extreme caution? Might they believe their father has been possessed? Or maybe they're kids and getting sugar washes away such concerns."

OK, that last bit is kind of false. Everything after the part about Rod and Todd saying they can't have sugar occurred to me as I was typing this. Only that stupid continuity bit came along during the film, which is probably good. I fi was thinking about all that other stuff during the movie, then that would mean it wasn't very engaging. So, The Simpsons Movie. Generally entertaining, though not as much as I'd been hoping (though better than I feared), and looking very good in comparison to those other movies I mentioned yesterday.

FYI, I didn't go see Run, Fat Boy, Run today, because Alex couldn't manage to wake up until nearly 5 in the afternoon, and I had to be back out in the boonies with the dogs by 7, and it wasn't the sort of movie I wanted to pay to go see by myself. Maybe tomorrow. Alex swears he'll be awake when I swing by, though that'd be the first time this week. Boy has got to stop partying all night.