The Simpsons Movie

The Simpsons try to save Springfield in their first big-screen adventure.

The Plot: (Spoilers)

Lake Springfield is so polluted it dissolves Green Day's concert barge, but aside from Lisa (Yeardley Smith), the town doesn't care. At church, Grandpa Abe Simpson (Dan Castellaneta) has a vision of terrible things happening and starts shouting about a twisted tail, a thousand eyes and "ee-pa!" Although the rest of family, including Grandpa himself, brushes it off as Grandpa's typical ramblings, Marge (Julie Kavner) thinks there's something to it, and tries to decipher Grandpa's vision. Meanwhile, Lisa tries unsucessfully to interest the town in cleaning up the lake, but does meet an Irish boy named Colin (Tress MacNeill) who shares her interest in the environment and in music.

Lisa meets Colin

At the same time, Homer (Castellaneta) dares Bart (Nancy Cartwright) to skateboard to KrustyBurger naked, and when the police catch Bart, Homer refuses to say it was his idea, as he'd have to go to a 1-hour parenting class. Homer at least brought Bart's clothes, but forgot his pants. Inside KrustyBurger, Ned Flanders (Harry Shearer) offers an extra pair of pants to Bart, while Homer gets distracted by a pig being used in a commercial. When the commercial is over, Krusty says to kill the pig, but Homer rescues him. Homer ends up spending all his time with the pig and ignores Bart, so Bart starts spending time with Ned.

"Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does whatever a Spider-Pig does!"

Lisa manages to convince the town to clean up the lake, and a barrier is erected to prevent any more dumping. Homer has erected a silo in the backyard for the pig's "leavings" but it is full after only two days. Marge is worried that the pig might be related to Grandpa's vision (the pig has a "twisted tail") and makes homer promise to dispose of the silo properly. But, when Homer is in line at the hazardous waste depot, Lenny calls and says that the donut shop is giving away free donuts, so Homer drives off to the lake, crashes through the barrier, and dumps the silo in the lake, which suddenly turns black with pollution. A squirrel comes in contact with the lakewater and mutates into a drooling creature with sharp teeth and dozens of eyes. The Environmental Protection Agency finds and captures the creature and the head of the EPA, Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks), takes it to President Arnold Schwarzenegger (Shearer).

"Look at those angry eyes; its like Christmas at the Kennedy compound!"

Cargill has Springfield sealed under a giant dome to keep the town's pollution from spreading, cutting off the town from the rest of the world. The town discovers the silo in the lake, with Homer's name on it, and a torch-wielding mob comes to the Simpson's home, out for blood. The Simpsons escape through a sinkhole in the backyard, that deposits them outside the dome. The sinkhole expands and destroys the house and is buried under the rubble. Cargill and the EPA chase after the Simpsons, who win a truck in a motocycle-cage carnival game and escape to a new life in Alaska.

The Simpsons in Alaska

Cargill, wanting to keep anyone else from escaping the dome, decides to destroy Springfield. In Alaska, the Simpsons see a TV commercial featuring Tom Hanks (Himself) announcing a crater-shaped "New Grand Canyon" coming soon to Springfield's location. Marge and the kids want to go back to try to save the town, but Homer is happy in Alaska and wants to stay and he storms off to "Eski-Moe's." Marge and the kids leave without him. Homer comes home to find Marge and the kids have left without him, and Marge left him a video farewell. Distraught, he runs out into the wilderness, where an Indian Medicine Women (MacNeill) leads Homer to the epiphany that he has to save Springfield. Meanwhile, Marge and the kids are captured by Cargill and put back in the dome, where they find that Springfield is in ruins, and is ruled by self-proclaimed "Emperor" Moe (Hank Azaria).

The Simpsons meet Emperor Moe

Cargill lowers a small but powerful bomb into the dome that will kill everyone inside. Bart decides that if he's going to die he wants to spend the rest of his life with a "real father" and goes to Ned. Homer gets back into the dome and initially makes things worse before getting on a motorcycle and grabbing the bomb to throw it through the hole at the top of the dome, after going to get Bart back to help him. In the end, the dome is destroyed, the Simpson family are reunited and reconciled, and the people of Springfield start to rebuild.

Homer & Bart Saving the Day

My Review:
The Simpsons Movie is a decent Simpsons adventure. There are episodes in the series that are better, and episodes that are worse. As is expected, there are a lot of little jokes that make it worthwhile to see the movie more than once. The voice cast does their typical excellent job, in particular Julie Kavner as Marge in the video she leaves for Homer. There aren't a lot of guest stars: Albert Brooks has voiced several one-time characters in the series, so he hardly seems like a guest. Green Day and Tom Hanks have their moments, and they are part of the plot, so they aren't gratuitous. The visuals are perhaps the most significant difference between the movie and the series: we get to see far more detail in scenes, especially overhead shots of Springfield and several large crowd scenes where everyone in the crowd is an established character. The effect of the dome over the town is particularly well done.

Overall, The Simpsons Movie is an enjoyable adventure with The Simpsons.