The Simpsons Movie (heavy spoilers alert)

[editman]

Here's the sceanrio: I've just come back from the screening of The Simpsons Movie (third one in Melbourne, Australia, I think). The following is not a review. It probably won't make much sense cos I need sleep. Worse, the following will contain heavy spoilers. I strongly suggest anyone who hasn't seen the movie yet DO NOT read on. Go and see the film first, or see it a couple of times. Don't blame me for ruining it for ya.

Being a Simpsons fan, I cannot be unbaised about my feeling towards the Movie. The boy sitting next to me pretty much sums up how I feel: "This is the best movie ever." Well not quite, since The Graduate is still my favourite movie of all time. But I can't remember the last time I'm so excited about going to a movie. Of course I love it. And of course 80-something minutes is not enough. I wish there's more.

Would it convert those who don't think much of the TV show to love the series? I don't think so. A good friend of mine in the real world doesn't like the show, and I don't expect him to check out the Movie let alone loving it. So there.

As for the fans, is it worth 18 years of waiting? Hard to say. Better throw your expectations away. Just sit back and enjoy it. You'll feel better.

Now the spoilers. What you will see in the Movie (aka the money shots) (in the least blantant words I can think of):
1. Little Bart
2. Homer giving digits
3. lots of perspective-changing shots
4. the death(?) of a minor character (I won't name who)
5. Maggie's second word (I don't think that's the voice of Liz Taylor though)
(In the Movie Marge says "her first word", which is technically true because when Maggie said "Daddy" it was never heard by any of the family members.)

What you won't see in the Movie (and some may dislike the film for the lack of these. Doesn't really bother me though):
1. Crouch gag (though there's a blackboard gag)
2. Sideshow Bob (don't trust IMDB)
3. What happens to Spider-Pig at the end (he probably died when the Simpsons house gets sucked into the sinkhole. But I would have thought he would come back at the end for one last gag.)
4. Like At World's End, scenes/shots featured in the trailers are altered. eg Details of the scene shown in Sneek Preview #2 we posted in the FE is rather different in the final cut. I kinda think those signs read differently in the animatic works better than as it is now.
5. No song-breaking moments except Spider-Pig, which is actually a good thing for me since I rarely like the new songs in recent seasons.
6. Kang is credited at the end but I don't see him actually appearing in the Movie. Unless it's a local gag that doesn't appear on the international prints, perhaps one can expect a few deleted scenes on the DVD?

BTW if you are the only one who laughs in the theater when Grand Theft Walrus blasts the tap-dancing penguin, like I did, you know you're a movie nut.

BTW2 here's something of the Movie that works on me on a personal level: when Homer kicks the bomb the time changes to 4:11. April 11 happens to be my birthday. The Movie opens in Australia today, July 26 - the birthday of my first love. At the beginning of the bomb-disarming robot scene, the bomb clocks at 3:18. March 18 is the birthday of my best friend at primary school... Freaky coincidences? Probably...


BTW3 they put a life-sized statue of The Simpsons in the lobby of the theater I went to. I happened to take some snaps with my phone before the movie (excuse my shaky hands). By the time the movie's over, they were gone so I missed out taking snaps with myself and Marge.

BTW4 no Dark Knight teaser attached to the movie. Only the international trailer of The Dark is Rising.

1 session down. 6 more to go this week.