(The Disneycember logo is shown, before showing clips from the TV show Bob's Burgers)
Doug (vo): So I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I am a huge Bob's Burgers fan. I remember everybody telling me this is like the original Simpsons, like, it has such a unique sense of humor and it's actually about the family and everything. And so I sat down, watched one episode, and thought it was okay. But everyone said, "No, no, no, you gotta watch more!", like it's kind of so unique and strange, it takes a second for the humor to sink in. It's kind of like Home Movies that way, which is also one of my favorite shows and has some of the same people that worked on it. I listened to them, watch a few more episodes, and, yeah, I haven't missed one since. I absolutely adore this series, or more importantly, this family. A lot of people ask what's my favorite episode, and I don't really remember episodes as much as attitudes. I love this family's attitude towards everything, I love seeing the reaction to any strange thing that happens, and they're all unique and they're all odd, and in a strange way, we kind of see ourselves in this family or we know a family like this. There's just something so unique, but yet strangely recognizable about these people. Like I said, we either see it in other families or maybe even in the weirdest part of ourselves.
(The title card for The Bob's Burgers Movie is shown before we cut to clips from the movie)
Doug (vo): So I felt really bad when the movie underperformed, like, big time. Nobody went to see this film, which, okay, on the one hand, you released it the same week as one of the biggest films of the year. (The poster for Top Gun: Maverick is shown) Come on, there's so many weeks where, like, nothing was coming out, you could have pushed it till then. But, second, I will admit, I wasn't too excited to see this movie, as I guess a lot of other people weren't either because it did underperform, because the trailers looked very underwhelming. And that is exactly what I got, a very underwhelming Bob's Burgers movie, and Bob's Burgers should be anything but underwhelming. Now, that's not to say it's bad, it is just the most exact definition of okay. This is a super okay movie. And for characters this good, I feel they deserve something more than just okay. But with that said, it's still okay. Okay, let me go into the details.
Story[]
Doug (vo): Bob and his family are in a really rough predicament. Their restaurant, Bob's Burgers, is going to be taken away if they don't suddenly come across a large sum of money. To make things worse, a giant pothole appears in front of the restaurant so that nobody can go to it, and to make things even more worse, a dead body is found in there, so it's also a crime scene. Can they solve the mystery of who killed this person and also get enough money to save the restaurant? Have you heard both these plots before in something? Of course you have. This is very, very standard.
Review[]
Doug (vo): Now to the film's credit, every main character does have a subplot and an arc, which is really nice. There's one about Louise and coming to grips with who she is and why she wears her bunny ears all the time. There's one about Tina who wants to ask a boy out. There's one about Gene who wants to perform in a band. And, of course, you have Bob and Linda trying to figure out how to save the restaurant. Now with that said, that is five arcs you have to work in, and in a story that already has two major plots going on, it is hard to get them all across, so, sometimes, they fall by the wayside or get forgotten about or may be squeezed in with other arcs. At times, I had to remind myself, "Oh, yeah, Gene has a band and Tina wants to ask that one boy out". It also doesn't help that this is not a very good mystery. I mean, okay, let me put this way, if you've never seen Bob's Burgers, I don't know if you would figure it out right away. But if you have, literally when the character shows up, you know who did it, I mean, it's painfully obvious, yet they're trying to really, really drag it out and save it till the end.
(Footage focusing on the movie's animation is shown)
Doug (vo): And, yeah, okay, since I'm already kind of dumping on it, I guess I'll just get all the bad stuff out of the way that I didn't really enjoy about the film. The first major one being, it doesn't feel like a film. I mean, yes, the animation is upped, you can tell more money was put into this, but it seems to all go into the motion and the lighting. Everything else from the cinematography to the dialogue to, like I said, this very standard plot does not feel particularly cinematic. Say what you will about The Simpsons Movie, but it was a movie. A giant dome is falling on the place and the Simpsons get out and they have to save the town. I mean, yeah, there's issues with that movie, too, but it went for broke and it justified being on the big screen. This one really doesn't.
(Footage focusing on the song sequences is shown)
Doug (vo): I was also really surprised to find the song sequences weren't that impressive. Not the songs themselves, they're okay, but they almost feel like they're in the movie because they're in the show, like, "Okay, well, the show had some songs, so let's get 'em in there somewhere". And, yeah, sometimes, that's the charm of the show, it's that you don't even need a song, yet they'll kinda shoehorn it in. But compare these two song sequences. One has much better animation, it's more flowing and colorful, but it doesn't feel like there's much passion to it, it's just kind of them bouncing around. Sometimes, other people around them will bounce around, too, but it kind of feels like the bare minimum where they were rushed putting together. The animation on this sequence clearly has less of a budget, but you can see there's so much more imagination and passion put into it. It's somehow bigger and wilder and more creative, even though it doesn't have as much money behind it. There is literally a song sequence where nobody moves, they just listen to somebody's diabolical plan, and that's it. Comedically, maybe that could work, but we already had two songs that were very underwhelming, so this one that's especially underwhelming just feels like a bigger letdown. I don't know, maybe with the pandemic and the fact that the movie had to be made at the same time as the show, there was kind of a rushed feeling to it, or maybe budgets were cut down halfway through and they couldn't do all the ideas they had, but this just didn't feel like something that deserved a big screen release.
(Footage focusing on the main characters is shown)
Doug (vo): Okay, there, I'm done shitting on Bob's Burgers, and it feels so weird doing that. I mean, I love these characters so much that I don't like saying anything bad about them. And honestly, segueing into the stuff that's good about the movie, the characters really are the best part. I love seeing these characters react to even just a standard story. If you're familiar with Bob's Burgers, you'll kind of like that there are some big questions and arcs that these characters should have gone through and they are finally going through. There's a big running joke that you never see Louise without her ears, why she wears these ears. Does she need to? Should she move on? Does it make sense to hold on to them or not? And they give you a very clever, satisfying conclusion that also doesn't go against what the show's been doing the whole time. I'll also be honest, I got, for lack of a better way of putting it, a real nostalgic feel sitting down and watching this on the big screen. Not because it's Bob's Burgers, but because it's a hand-drawn animated film, an unconventional hand-drawn animated film. It brought me right back to the 80s when I sat down and saw an animated film that wasn't Disney. And I know it sounds strange, but there is kind of a good, unique feeling about seeing something that doesn't have the Disney stamp on it, but it's still bright and colorful and bouncy and has songs, and it's hard to describe, but there is something really refreshing about it. The writing is also very, very funny. Okay, I can't say it's like their best writing or anything, but I was still laughing a fair amount, and again, these characters are so great, I just love hearing what their reactions are gonna be to absolutely anything. Out of all the characters, I say Gene is probably my least favorite. I get why a lot of people like him, his humor just never really grew on me. But even in this film, I was laughing pretty hard at a lot of the lines he had. There's a really great scene during a chase sequence where the bad guy is trying to drive up to them, and Tina's in the back seat, and she's just trying not to make eye contact with him. And it really focuses on that and... (Chuckles) ...what a strange thing to focus on! It just made me laugh so hard. I love that they took time to put some attention on this.
(Footage focusing on the side characters is shown)
Doug (vo): It's also great seeing a lot of the side characters get attention in this. Again, there's five main characters with five arcs you have to work through, but Teddy still gets a lot of attention, and Mr. Fischoeder, and a lot of weirdos that always perk me up whenever they appear on the show.
Final thought[]
Doug (vo): So, yes, I really don't want to give the wrong impression that this is a bad movie, because it's really not. These characters are so good, and as long as they have the same voice actors and the same writing team, I think they're always gonna be good. I'm gonna wanna watch them, no matter what they're in. I think it's the equivalent of being promised a mountain of gold, and then you turn up and you only get a few bars of gold. Hey, that's not exactly what was promised, but how can you be upset when you are still given free gold? Yes, it is hard to tell somebody, "Go see this, it's incredibly okay", but if you are a Bob's Burgers fan, I still say you should check it out. If you've never seen Bob's Burgers, I probably wouldn't recommend this, as there are a lot of oddities and continuing jokes that you kind of gotta know about. And like I said before, Bob's Burgers does work great if you just watch a few episodes in a row to get an idea of what their humor is about. It really is unique, and takes a little time to gravitate towards. But if you're like me, once you do, you're a fan for life. And I still can't help but be a fan of something like this, even if it is just phenomenally okay. With that said, even a lesser Bob's Burgers property is still Bob's Burgers, and I'm always gonna value that, no matter what.
(The scene showing life going on in front of Bob's Burgers despite the large sinkhole in front of the restaurant is shown)