The Bob's Burgers Movie

Release Date: May 27, 2022

Watch Date: February 27 – February 28, 2023

 

    I may have grown up watching The Simpsons, but as an adult Bob’s Burgers has become my true animated love. And can you blame me? It’s realistic, but wacky, the characters are relatable and deep, the family has troubles but loves each other, and there is no child abuse of any kind. Unless you count three children working at their family restaurant, but they barely work so…

    That’s all to say I was extremely excited for The Bob’s Burgers Movie because The Simpsons waited way too long to put a movie out there, and while it is still a good movie, Bob’s Burgers is doing it during the prime of the show, with lots of seasons still to come, hopefully, within a rich franchise where there’s plenty to build off of.

    So…I’m not really sure what happened.

    Yes, this is a good Bob’s Burgers movie, it’s funny and the characters are well written, but something about it just seems off to me. It doesn’t grab my attention in the way the show would, and other than the first musical number the rest kind of fall flat. I don’t know, the magic is just off for me.

    Now Bob doesn’t really watch Bob’s Burgers, I mean he’ll sit down and watch it with me if it’s on, but it’s not something he ever went out looking for himself – though he does say he’d like to binge watch the series with me at some point. Since he’s not used to the show, he really enjoyed the movie, because on the surface, everything that’s good about the show is in this movie. Funny moments, family connection, some insane circumstance coming out of left field in a plot that is primarily about trying to keep a burger joint alive. There’s not too many character cameos that you feel overwhelmed, it’s well paced. It is a good movie.

    Maybe that’s the problem for me. See, ‘The Simpsons Movie’ had it’s flaws, for sure, the pacing is a bit weird, they try to cram a lot of characters in, even just as faces in the background, and if you’re not a fan of the show that could be a lot. But it felt like an episode, not a movie. It felt like a special, like something I could very easily have turned on after work one night and enjoyed with dinner. ‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ feels like a movie, it’s paced like a movie. And that’s not a bad thing! It’s a really, really good thing. But as a fan of the show, I wanted more show. Not a movie.

    Some might say I’m impossible to please, and maybe I am. I do enjoy this movie, a lot, I think it’s funny, and I mean, I willingly picked it for one of my days so it’s not like I’m trying to avoid it. It’s just not Bob’s Burgers, at least not to the standard I would hope. Still, it’s a solid addition to the franchise, it’s funny, and it’s got some heart, so if you’re a fan or not, give it a try, you’ll enjoy it, you just might come away, as a fan, feeling like it’s missing a little je ne sais quoi.