The Simpsons Movie premiered on 21st July 2007 in Springfield, Vermont, and was released on 27th July 2007. This animated comedic film was based on the animated series, ‘The Simpsons.’ In “The Simpsons Movie,” Homer, the comical protagonist of the film, has created a catastrophe and has to solve it and save the world!
The movie was directed by David Silverman and produced by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, and Richard Sakai. The cast is repeated by those who had been given a role previously in the sitcom, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Karl Wiedergott, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor, and Joe Mantegna and Albert Brooks.
It is rated PG-13 but does contain some profanities, and some scenes which may be considered inappropriate to some parents, so we suggest that parents read the parent’s guide for The Simpsons Movie before watching it along with kids.
Albert Brooks had been cast to voice Russ Cargill, the antagonist of the film, who is the head of the EPA, and Homer Simpson is voiced by Dan Castellaneta. The voice of Marge, Lisa, and Bart Simpson is given by Julie, Yeardley, and Nancy, respectively.
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The movie has won 5 awards, including British Academy Film and Television Arts award – BAFTA (2007 – Kid’s Vote), and British Comedy Awards (2007), and has also been nominated for 34 other awards!
Effects of pollution and the environmental crisis have been brought into the film, giving us a clear picture of what will happen if we keep doing what we do and, in turn, polluting the environment we live in. Even though that is a serious topic, the humorous and entertaining story brings a light-hearted yet important message.
The Simpsons Movie Review
The movie starts with people sitting in a theater watching a movie about Itchy and Scratchy and how Itchy attempts to kill and leaves him stranded on the moon. Suddenly Homer stands up and shouts that this movie is boring and he could have just been at home. He exclaims that everyone there is dumb for paying money to watch this.
After the movie title intro is given, the scene cuts to a concert by Green Day being held late at night at Lake Springfield. The concert has been completed successfully, and as they finish their final song (the final song is The Simpsons Theme song with a rock twist), they launch into a speech about the environment.
The audience is not ready to be bored with environmental speeches, hence causing them to be raged and invoking them to start throwing trash at the members. The trash starts to pollute the water, and this pollution, in turn, the barge (a flat-bottomed, ship-like vessel) starts to dissolve, and the members of the band get killed as they are performing on it.
At the funeral ceremony for the Green Day, Gramps gets “possessed” and starts screaming about the catastrophes going to occur. No one believes him except Marge, who thinks that god is sending a message.
Back home, Bart and Homer play a game of dare, which starts dangerous and goes downhill. It starts with Bart climbing up the TV antenna and ends with him getting handcuffed to a pole for skateboarding buck naked. Police start to chase him and end up handcuffing him to a nearby pole, and then they go eat at Krusty Burger.
Homer is furious at Bart, as he needs to take parenting classes if he admits to daring Bart and resulting in him getting arrested. As they arrive, Krusty the Clown has just finished shooting a commercial with a pig and orders it to be killed. Homer immediately jumps to the pig’s rescue and decides to adopt it on the spot; then, he names it ‘Spider Pig’ and later changes it to ‘Harry Plopper.’
Lisa, on the other hand, is going around town and trying to collect signatures for a petition in order to clean up the mess at Lake Springfield, yet she is unsuccessful in doing so; she meets an Irish boy, Colin, who is trying to do the same and ends up liking the boy. But working together, they came up with a plan by making a meeting and giving everyone lake water.
This spurs action, and the mayor decides that enough is enough and that they have to clean up the lake. Everyone pitches in, Lake Springfield is clean, and a concrete barricade is built around it.
Marge, on the other hand, is still trying to figure out what Gramps’s outburst at church meant. When Homer shows her the pig, she remembers that Gramps had said something about a twisted tail and tells Homer to get rid of it, but she does not succeed.
Homer is attached on an emotional basis to the pig, and Bart feels ignored. Ned comes in and plays a father role to Bart, forming a father-and-son bond between them both. One day as Homer is getting rid of the pig’s waste at the waste disposal plant, but then he gets a call saying there is a giveaway at a donut shop, he rushes and disposes of it in the once-clean lake.
Immediately, the lake becomes re-polluted, and the water becomes toxic. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) saw a mutant squirrel which has a thousand eyes as it fell into the toxic water. That’s when they decide to do something about it.
President Schwarzenegger chooses a random solution of trapping everyone and everything in the town under a dome so that the pollution does not go anywhere else. An enormous dome is placed, and the residents become hectic. The police try to break the dome, but their efforts are futile.
Suddenly, a report informs everyone that the dome is placed in order to stop pollution from being spread to other places from Springfield, thus removing them from the map! Maggie, however, finds an underground hole through which she is able to go outside the dome and return back unnoticed and unharmed.
After investigation, the police find that the cause of the toxic lake is a bag with pig waste labeled, ‘Please return to Homer Simpson, No Reward.’ Marge screams at Homer, saying that he is the sole cause of the dome that is preventing them from going outside Springfield.
The residents see the news, and they all want to kill Homer. Thinking that the whole family is in danger, Ned attempts to help them, but his plans are ruined by the pig. Then they escape to the treehouse whilst Homer tries to apologize.
Maggie shows them the secret passageway and leads them to the escape route. After they reach outside the dome, Cargill is alerted, and he is furious as he wants everyone to be inside the dome. They run away and hide.
The family confronts Homer, and after his explanation, he says that they should all just move to Alaska. Hesitant at first, they all agree to the plan. Homer wins a truck at a carnival, and the family is on their way. While stopping, they see a wanted poster for them. They escape to Alaska and decide to rebuild their lives there.
The situation at Springfield is horrible, the supplies are decreasing day by day, and everyone is suffering. The people of Springfield get so agitated and decide to break the dome themselves by working together. The president, as well as Cargill, are watching this using security cameras.
Cargill convinces the president that they should blow up the town, as their reputations will be ruined if the people get out of the dome.
The Simpsons family decides that they should go back and save their hometown. Everyone is ready except Homer, who refuses to go back. After failed persuasions, they leave him and go by themselves. Homer is struck by the realization and goes to find his family and save Springfield.
Unfortunately, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are caught by Cargill and trapped and tranquilized. After waking up, they hear an announcement that the dome was a mistake, but now everyone will be killed. A bomb is dropped by a helicopter which is timed to blast in 15 minutes.
Homer attempts to get inside the dome and save everyone but ends up worsening the situation. Finally, with a lot of help and suffering, Bart and Homer ride a motorcycle up the dome, with Bart holding the bomb to through it out of the dome opening. The bomb land outside with mere seconds left, and the explosion causes the dome to break, setting everyone free.
The movie ends with Cargill being arrested and Homer being forgiven by the residents. Everyone at Springfield helps to rebuild the town and Simpson’s home. Lisa and Colin get together, and Bart is back with Homer!
Our Verdict
To be honest, the writers came up with a clever way to bring in the impact of pollution in an upbeat yet intriguing way. The animated movie made me laugh a couple of times and was better than what was expected of it. The movie is not just for the younger kids, but adults would most probably enjoy it too!
All the Simpsons fans out there would love this movie and would have probably treated this as an interesting and a laugh out loud film. There are a lot of hidden meanings and messages that the movie delivers. Starting with the importance of keeping our environment clean so that we live in a safe place, the movie also implies that people misuse the power that they have been given.
The evil villain of the movie, Cargill, has been shown to convince and blackmail the president in order to make everything according to his benefit. This can be shown as an example of the occurrences that are still happening in the real world.
Overall, the movie seems like a longer version of an episode, and it doesn’t seem like something you would typically assume as a film. It is a fun, jovial movie with a smooth plot and captivating story. There are some fun twists that you would not have expected.
But not all is well; hmm, there are a few downsides to the film. The entire film revolves around American stupidity and slapstick. This is definitely not a picture you would want to have of your country. Without its parodic scenes, the movie would have probably not gotten as much of a rating as it has now.
There are some scenes in the movie that makes you wonder why they even thought of putting it in, as it makes utter sense and confuses the audience. To conclude, the movie depends on your perspective and how you take the message of the story being portrayed.
Our Rating: ⭐ (4/5).
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