The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
After Homer pollutes the town's water supply, Springfield is encased in a gigantic dome by the EPA and the Simpsons are declared fugitives.
Tubeman72 reviewedMay 2, 2025
At last, the beloved adventures of the yellow animated family have made it to the big screen! The Simpsons Movie has arrived, and fans of the series can rest assured: the cynical, sometimes endearing, but always wacky family remains unchanged. The characters haven’t evolved at all — and thankfully so. The tone of their antics is just as it has always been, with plenty of political satire, pop culture references, and a barrage of visual gags. The film format doesn’t add much, and the plot is rather straightforward, but The Simpsons Movie is undoubtedly a success. Both loyal fans and relative newcomers will have a great time watching it.
Although the characters have been around since 1987, when they first appeared on TV as part of The Tracey Ullman Show, they continue to provoke and entertain as ever. Especially in the first half of the film, the jokes come fast and furious — you’d better not even blink. It opens with an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon that the Simpsons are watching at the cinema. This violent cat-and-mouse show, a classic within the Simpsons universe, offers commentary on Bush and American (foreign) policy in general, as Itchy conquers the moon (at the expense of Scratchy), returns home a hero, becomes president, and appoints Hillary Clinton as his vice-president. While watching, Homer exclaims how crazy it is to pay money for something he can watch at home for free — and he turns directly to the audience in the theater. He has a point: this movie really is little more than an extended Simpsons episode — but a very funny one, at that.
The visuals have been polished a bit: the settings are more richly animated, and there are some touches of CGI here and there. But the real reason to see the movie is, of course, the humor. A few highlights: Green Day’s environmental concert literally sinks when the Springfield crowd pelts the band (playing on the lake) with cans and garbage; Bart skateboards naked through town after a truth-or-dare game with Homer; Arnold Schwarzenegger is President of the United States, guided by a Cheney-like figure. His motto? “I was elected to lead, not to read.” Homer adopts a pig, names it “Spider-Pig,” and dumps a silo full of its waste into Springfield’s lake, triggering an environmental disaster. When a nationwide wiretapping operation finally yields results, a government employee yells: “The government has actually found someone they were looking for!” Many of the jokes unfold in the margins or background, and that’s what makes the film what it is.
The larger central plot, however, is fairly weak. Not only could the townspeople have easily escaped their predicament — a giant glass dome placed over their entire city — but the story’s main development (the Simpsons leaving Springfield) is not especially compelling. Sure, a movie requires some dramatic arc, and the emotional moments do add an extra layer, but they also slow down the film and dilute its comedic punch. As a result, the movie loses some momentum. Still, only a grump would let that spoil the fun. After twenty years, the Simpsons are still very much alive — even on the big screen. So don’t listen to Homer: seeing this film in the cinema is definitely not a waste of money.