Oct 25 2008
THE SIMPSON MOVIE VS RENO 911 MOVIE
Lets talk about two television shows that had feature films in the last year, the juggernaut that is THE SIMPSONS and the sophomore hit RENO 911.
The result one film was a major disappointment and the other was a surprise delight.
Let’s start with THE SIMPSON movie; Springfield is declared a national threat to the environment. This is because of a mistake done by the stupid patriarch of the Simpson family Homer. The President of the United States encapsulates the town in a giant bubble to protect and America and the townspeople turn on the Simpson family.
This film took almost eighteen years to come up with after many drafts of the script and many different writers and ideas, this is the best they could come up with? The movie is flat and uninteresting. It doesn’t seem like an adventure it just seems like a normal situation that could have sustained a half hour rather than a full feature film. The characters that are added (Albert Brooks does a voice) seem to be things we have seen in previous episodes of the show and seems familiar, such as, a millionaire who wants to change Springfield blah blah, it has been done to death. The film’s pacing didn’t play well either because the climax of the film happened almost in the middle of the movie and Homer had the last shot of saving Springfield. Lackluster, predictable and overall there were NO jokes. A small bit with a pig that looked like Harry Potter and Spiderman added some levity but that’s it. THE SIMPSON MOVIE is a failed attempt and the writers should actually be ashamed of themselves. A quick suggestion for the writers I know their show has been on the air for almost twenty years, but you might want to breathe some fresh life into the film and either add new characters or make the kids teenagers, then maybe at that time it’ll be fresh and interesting. But again, two more years to go and it becomes the longest running sitcom in history.
RENO 911 is actually the better of the two movies. RENO, which relies on a lot off color jokes, nudity, harsh language and a sense of off the color improvisation, flourishes where the SIMPSONS do not. The film is actually really good and funny. The unrated cut has a run time of seventy-five minutes (that includes the credits). The film is extremely short and that’s probably the main strength. The film has a group of moronic sheriff troopers who go to “cop” week in Miami. While there someone plots to destroy all of the best police forces in the country by releasing a disease into the convention center. The only cops who were not infected were the dimwitted Reno Sheriff’s department. It’s up to them to protect Miami and find an antidote for the police officers. Madcap comedy ensues, as the troopers have to deal with a real Floridian alligator, Cuban drug deals and they have to remove a beached whale on a nude beach. This is a better rental for better laughs albeit adult laughs but at least you have laughs. The other film, both children and adults will leave without a laugh from the experience. Adults, see the RENO 911 one movie, and if your spouse doesn’t appreciate the humor it’s only and hour and ten minutes long.
