The Simpsons Movie

There's a predictable path to pop culture icons that start on television. The Simpsons went from animated shorts on the Tracy Ulllman show to their own series and finally, to this movie. All that's missing is the live-action version and the Broadway play.

With a PG-13 rating, there's an opportunity for the Simpsons to stretch their legs a bit and do naughty things they couldn't do on television, like nudity, language, violence - you know, all the fun stuff. But there's got to be more than that.

The Simpsons is a richly detailed universe with characters that actually evolve, from the passing of Flanders' wife to Apu's massive brood. These characters are what make the Simpsons so much fun; there are stereotypes that are a reflection of every aspect of American life. They're us. Fatter, dumber, louder, uglier...but they're us.

What does the Simpsons movie do? It drops a dome over the city of Springfield and then separates the Simpsons from the rest of the cast. The rest of the film then involves a villain never-before introduced, a random helpful character (a busty Eskimo lady), and a love-interest for Lisa that has absolutely nothing to do with the plot.

The plot involves the EPA and pollution. Which is odd, since Lisa, arguably the biggest opponent of pollution on the show, doesn't have much to say or do here. In fact, she's occupied with her love interest. Bart's supposedly having a crisis over Homer being a bad father (unbelievable, given that Homer's behavior borders the insane). And Marge reconsiders her marriage. For the eighth time.

For some reason, someone thought the idea of Homer becoming obsessed with a pig was funny. This in turn morphs into Homer turning the pig into "Spider-Pig." And that one-off joke, which at most gets a mild chuckle, turns into the tent pole supporting the Simpsons. It's in Homer's dream quest. It's in the DVD menu. I mean, seriously, the idea of Spider-Pig is cute the first time. But it's hardly movie material. In fact, after starting the chain of events that are the crux of the Simpsons movie, the stupid pig disappears entirely. Even the writers knew the pig was a dumb idea.

It's not that the Simpsons movie isn't funny. It's that it's extremely uninspired, given the fine pedigree of writers for the show. The mutant squirrel that becomes the symbol of Springfield's pollution best sums up the lack of inspiration. There already is a mascot of Springfield's solution: the three-eyed fish. The fact that the movie didn't use it shows just how underutilized the Springfield cast really is.