Has there been a movie that you feel is underappreciated? Not a movie that is over-hated or obscure, I'm talking about movies that generally, people are positive towards, but not necessarily favourable. Like, you bring up the movie and people will go "Yeah, that was a good movie", but not much else. For me, The Simpsons Movie is that movie, that movie I think doesn't really get the admiration it deserves, which is weird don't you think? I mean, this movie is not something like Felidae, a risky and one of a kind animated movie, nor is it like Treasure Planet, a very expertly crafted movie that can be considered a masterpiece. The Simpsons Movie seems like it would fall more into the camp of movies like The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie or DuckTales: The Movie, good movies that are entertaining, but that's all they aspire to be, and there is nothing wrong with movies that just want to be solid entertainment, but to say The Simpsons Movie is one of the most underappreciated movies, is to imply that it is more than an entertaining romp with our favourite characters. It also helps that I've been watching a bunch of Simpsons episodes recently, strike the ADHD iron while it's hot, am I right?
The plot is not wholly different from a usual Simpsons episode, it starts with one plot and then veers into another entirely. As condensed as I can make it, The Simpsons Movie follows the Simpson family as another one of Homer's screw-ups puts Springfield under a dome, but they manage to escape. It's kind of like three Simpsons episodes put together, like the first part is Lisa's plot about the lake and Homer's plot about getting a pig, then the second part is the dome, and finally it's Alaska and the plan to blow up Springfield. Despite this, each bit flows into each other nicely, we can see the progression from point A to point B to point C. Homer gets the pig, needs to dispose of it's feces, and dumps it into the lake, which was established to be heavily polluted by Lisa's plot. This prompts EPA involvement which leads to the dome, and so on and so forth. However, this plot is not the stuff I want to talk about, it's fantastically done, but there is something deeper here.
The Simpsons Movie is about how far one man will go to protect the people he loves. That statement may sound wrong, after all this is Homer Simpson we're talking about, this is like saying Family Guy is about one man learning to love his family. However, Homer is not Peter Griffin, while both of their idiotic tendencies have been amplified over the years, there are lines Homer would never cross that Peter has. Peter is callous while Homer is just thick in the head, so it doesn't feel like a stretch to say that this movie is about him and the lengths he'll go to protect his family. Listen to his excuses when the angry mob is trying to kill him, his excuse is that he's afraid for his family, obviously a cover for his real fear, but it's interesting that his first excuse was to protect his family. Him blowing off Marge as she uses his own words against him, an awful thing absolutely, but think of it from his perspective, he and his family are safe, and now Marge wants to risk everyone's life for a town that tried to kill them. Homer also does ridiculous things like dog sled, and then walk, from Alaska to Springfield, or does the motorcycle ride up the dome, this is not a man who doesn't care. He is destroyed when Marge and the kids leave to save Springfield, and his epiphany vision has features them prominently.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this is one of the deepest character dives in cinema history. I am however, going to say that this movie might have been hiding something in plain sight. I could easily see the writers pitching ideas for how Homer goes from Alaska to Springfield, and they could have done something really silly and jokey, like Homer dog sledding to an airport or a seaport, or even managing to hitchhike with some hilarious one-off character, but they went with something that wasn't as silly, which strikes me as interesting.
Beyond the plot, the movie is pretty solid. It's comedy is a bit... 2000s, but there are a lot of jokes and gags that do make me chuckle, to straight up roar with laughter. This movie was released between Seasons between 18 and 19, which is the era of Simpsons I grew up with, so if you're fond of this era of The Simpsons, I think there should be some bits here that you'll enjoy. These are still some of our favourite characters with some good writing. Admittedly, the satire stuff, like President Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Mr. Burns claiming "For once the rich white man is in charge", have aged a bit, and one gag about Fox advertising shows during movies, I mean in the era of Streaming, that joke feels like a relic of a by-gone era, but I think there are more jokes that are still fresh, than jokes that are aged and kind of groan worthy.
Animation wise, there are a couple flaws I noticed, like Lip-Syncing not matching with dialogue, some shots where characters look out of place, and some movement animation not being complete, but overall, they really aren't obvious. I swear anyone who says that "You need to study animation to appreciate it more" really has no clue what they're talking about, because I've become way more critical of animation since learning to animate. Barring these minor flubs, The Simpsons Movie doesn't really look all that much different from modern HD era Simpsons, maybe a little bit cleaner, like you can tell the difference at a glance, but it doesn't look too different. I think it looks great, minor flubs aside.
The amusing thing is, The Simpsons 2000s run, and even their modern run, are kind of getting second looks. People are going back to these seasons and going "You know, maybe our initial reaction was a bit harsh", yet people don't seem to be doing the same for The Simpsons Movie. I feel that is a bit unfair. I think the problem is it isn't completely a fun and wacky adventure with our favourite characters, but it also isn't something that is entirely deep and emotional, it's kind of an attempt to balance the two. I don't know if audiences would prefer it skew more towards one way or another. On the one hand, a wackier plot would be funnier, but it would be reminiscent of a standard episode like "Bart on the Road" or "Kill the Alligator and Run", whereas a more serious plot would let us care more for the characters, but would ultimately leave behind what The Simpsons is, it's a comedy, not a Drama.
I think there is a lot here to admire about this movie, it is still The Simpsons, the characters and humour are still here. Plus, given a plot that is both silly and character-driven, I really do think that you should take another look at this movie. With The Simpsons modern era getting some more appreciation recently, people may look at the movie as the bridge between classic era and Modern era Simpsons, I don't think it is, "Classic" and "Modern" are descriptors that change with time. I feel like The Simpsons Movie gets lost a little, and I think it should get another chance in the spotlight. I don't think it's on par with the best Simpsons episodes, but when you have highs such as "Cape Feare", "And Maggie Makes Three" or "Last Exit to Springfield", that is a pretty high bar to reach. I say, give it a watch, and let it stand on its own merits, and I think you'll find this movie is more than you may have initially thought of it.
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