Film Review:America’s Animated Family Gets Their Day in the Sun

After 18 years and over 400 episodes, “The Simpsons Movie” has finally hit the silver screen. And the wait was worth it. The cast of hundreds joined together to make this movie, but the plot revolves mainly around Homer with subplots focusing on Marge and Bart. But the overall cast was not as strongly present in the movie as they are in the show.

The main message (yes there is a message) is about pollution. When the band Green Day dies after their concert barge was eaten away by the polluted waters of Lake Springfield, the townspeople jump to action and clean up the lake. But Homer never got the message, despite the numerous signs he ran over. Homer dropped something into Lake Springfield that polluted it so badly that Washington, D.C. noticed. In an effort to get rid of the pollution, they put a huge glass dome over Springfield, planning to drop a bomb in there, destroying the town and its citizens. It is up to Homer to save the town before time runs out.

It is a pretty good movie. Usually, TV to movie translations involve over-the-top, life-as-we-know-it threatening situations that the main character must stop or the world is doomed, such as “The Spongebob Squarepants” movie, “Reno 911: Miami,” “Pokemon,” and “Power Rangers” to name a few. And this is what happened in the “The Simpsons Movie.” Although in the moves previously mentioned saving the world was out of the norm, Homer and his family regularly knock over toxic barrels into a river or come very close to having the nuclear plant Homer works in blow up. And where many shows take advantage of the lack of television censors, “The Simpsons” did not. They stayed pretty close to all the things audiences know and love about the series.

There could have been more usage of the other characters. The only place they really played an important role is as a mob. And that is a bit disappointing because after 18 years of building a strong supporting cast, why not use them? Most fans have their favorite character, and many of them are only seen for a second, or have one throw away gag line. That was disappointing, but the Simpson family did carry the film well. Maybe the next movie will involve more of the supporting cast. Anyone who has ever seen the show must see this movie. Rated PG-13. I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.