Simpsons Movie! Spoiler Alert!

So I convinced my wife to go see the Simpsons Movie with me this afternoon, and my initial, gut reaction to the film is positive. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film, which at times felt like a really long episode and at other times felt like an actual movie. I suppose after so many years of making the show, it must be difficult to come up with new material, so I tip my cap to the writers/producers/whatevers who came up with a solid, but still ridiculous enough plot for the movie. Just think, Family Guy has only been on the air for 5 seasons and they've been ripping people off from the beginning, so the fact that the Simpsons made an effort to be original is noteworthy.

The actual plot is kind of funny in and of itself; Lisa succeeds in waking the town up to the terrible pollution in Lake Springfield, prompting a ban on dumping in the lake, which Homer violates when he dumps a silo full of his new pet pig's (Spider Pig/Harry Plopper) feces into the lake. The ensuing environmental disaster prompts the EPA to put an impenetrable dome over Springfield, fulfilling the prophecy that Grandpa Simpson had rather incoherently spouted while in church during the opening scene. The Simpsons escape the angry mob that is trying to kill them, as well as the dome, and follow Homer's dream of living in Alaska. After a short time there, however, the Simpsons discover that the government is planning to blow up Springfield in order to create "The New Grand Canyon." All of the Simpsons want to return to their home town in order to save the people they love (Bart has developed a bond with Ned Flanders, Lisa has a new love interest in an Irish boy named Colin), but Homer refuses. Marge takes the kids back to Springfield, Homer has an epiphany with the help of an old Inuit woman with a huge rack, comes back to Springfield just in time to ruin a brilliant escape plan but then save the town at the last second.

The "Idiot Saves the World" theme has been done in films before, but no Idiot is quite like Homer Simpson. Although the movie was not uproarious (which the Simpsons itself hasn't been for years anyways), it was clever and cutting at points. I'll probably go see it again in the theater at least one more time, and expect me to have more on it then.