The Bob’s Burgers Movie
review by Bobby Blakey
In 2011 the animated series Bob’s Burgers hit FOX from Home Movies co-creator Loren Bouchard. The proved to be a hit and is currently in its twelfth season and already renewed for a thirteenth season. Now they are getting their first feature film featuring the series voice cast including H. Jon Benjamin, Don Mintz, Eugene Mirman, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, and Larry Murphy with Loren Bouchard making his feature directing debut alongside Bernard Derriman. Could this big screen feature take it to a new level or will the burgers be overcooked?
Bob's Burgers the Belcher family (Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene, and Louise) who own a hamburger restaurant. Bob's burgers are really delicious and appear to be better than his rivals' but his kids aren't really helpful at selling them. In the feature film, the story begins when a ruptured water main creates an enormous sinkhole right in front of Bob's Burgers, blocking the entrance indefinitely and ruining the Belchers’ plans for a successful summer. While Bob and Linda struggle to keep the business afloat, the kids try to solve a mystery that could save their family's restaurant. As the dangers mount, these underdogs help each other find hope and fight to get back behind the counter, where they belong.
I love Bob’s Burgers and have been along for their hijinx since it first premiered in 2011. Still to this day it is my favorite in Fox’s Animation Domination block every Sunday. I knew it was popular, but didn’t expect it to get the feature film treatment but here we are. There have been many animated shows that jumped to the big screen with some working and others just feeling
like a long episode. This one falls firmly in the middle as highly entertaining, going bigger on some levels, but also keeping the usual series formula intact.
It really does feel like a bigger longer episode and that’s ok for this one. Much
like the Simpsons film it doesn’t go too far off the rails to try to be something it’s not and instead just dives into its usual world and lets us play. They do bring in more musical numbers that are bigger and funny while giving everyone involved a big fun story arc. What I love about this show and the film is that every one of the main characters gets time to shine.
The animation looks great fully embracing its usual look and feel, but just comes across as more vibrant and beautiful. The attention to detail is always there, but it just comes across more prominent here and further enhances the show. Could they have gone even bigger to really embrace the feature film style? Sure, but this film didn’t need it and delivered pretty much what I expected and works.
If you are a fan of the series then you will no doubt enjoy the film, but if not it won’t likely change your mind. In addition to the film this release offers up bonus content including commentary, deleted scenes, theatrical short, featurettes and more. Lace up the apron and grab your copy of The Bob’s Burgers Movie available now on digital and then on Blu-ray and DVD on July 19th from 20th Century Studios.