As a reviewer, I try my hardest to avoid exposure to other people’s opinions of newly released movies and TV shows before I can watch them myself, as well as any spoilers that manage to leak online. I’m the kind of guy whose opinion can be easily swayed by others without even knowing it, and the last thing I want to do is to parrot what someone else is saying rather than reporting what I really think.
Sometimes, however, you just know what you’re going to get beforehand no matter how blind you go into something. The Bob’s Burgers Movie, the big screen adaptation of the long-running FOX series, was exactly what I expected it to be, no more and no less, and it was perfect because of it.
For those unfamiliar with the original show, Bob’s Burgers is an animated comedy about a wacky family in the vein of The Simpsons or Family Guy, but decidedly more wholesome and family-friendly.
The Belchers are not as dysfunctional as their fellow FOX families, and their show is generally pretty sunny in its disposition. As for the humor, Bob’s Burgers depends less on the set-up, big laugh, set-up, big laugh formula of other shows and instead supplies near constant chuckles, only occasionally prompting laugh-out-loud moments. I am, as you can tell, a fan, and the movie did not disappoint.
Like The Simpsons Movie before it, The Bob’s Burgers Movie plays out much like an extended episode of the show, but with cleaner and more detailed animation and… well, I guess that’s it, really. The stakes in the movie aren’t much higher than they can sometimes reach in the show, nor are the musical numbers any more spectacular (yes, there are musical numbers; Bob’s Burgers loves its musical numbers), but that this just stands in testament to the overall quality of the show the film is based on.
The conflicts seen in the film aren’t really anything new either. Bob and Linda have money problems, Tina has boy problems, Louise has growing-up problems, and Gene has a silly music-related problem.
Supplementing the core group are the family’s usual massive extended cast, from Kevin Kline and Zach Galifianakis as the Fischoeder brothers to Paul Rudd’s bit part as an imaginary horse named Jericho. The movie is also like the show in the sense that it is perfectly suitable for the whole family. There might be an adult reference here or there, but certainly nothing that a kid would understand or care about.
If you are a fan, you owe it to yourself to see the Belchers on the big screen because while it may be more of the same, it is still the show at its best. If you’ve never seen an episode but are still in the mood for some breezy, pre-summer fun at the movies, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is friendly enough to newcomers, although pre-existing familiarity with the characters does undoubtedly enhance the experience.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie is now available exclusively in theaters.