THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE review

THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE is directed by Loren Bouchard and Bernard Derriman. The film features the voice acting of H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, Larry Murphy, Eugene Mirman, Kevin Kline, Zach Galifianakis, and Gary Cole.

Bob Belcher and his wife Linda own and run the restaurant Bob’s Burgers, living in an apartment above the business space with their three children, Gene, Tina, and Louise. The Belchers fall on hard times when they’re coming up on their rent and loans being due. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a sinkhole opens in front of the restaurant, preventing patrons from entering! As Bob and Linda team up with family friend Teddy to bolster business, the Belcher children set out to solve a murder mystery that could help their parents to save the restaurant in these unexpected hard times.

BOB’S BURGERS has been airing on Fox for over a decade now. While I admittedly didn’t follow the show at all the first several years it was on the air, I’ve started watching it since, gaining some familiarity with the characters and plot points. It’s crudely drawn and a bit heavy on potty humor at times, but there’s no denying it’s funny. Plus, it was nice to get a Fox primetime animated series from someone other than Matt Groening or Seth MacFarlane for a change.

THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE has the daunting task that any movie based on a television series does; it must appeal to longtime fans of the franchise, while also being enough of a standalone work that those who aren’t familiar with the show can come in and enjoy themselves. While THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE bites off a bit more hamburger meat than it can chew, namely in the form of too many tertiary characters and subplots, as a whole it’s pretty damn entertaining. The laughs don’t stop, and it ultimately is that “movie based on a TV show” that should appeal to old and new fans alike.

While you’ll certainly get the most out of THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE if you’re already an established fan, you don’t need to be. The movie serves as a great “jumping on” point, establishing these characters and the premise quite well. In only a few minutes, you’ll feel like you’ve spent years with these characters, even if this is your first experience with them. It’s a lengthier and slightly more complex story that couldn’t be crammed into a half-hour time slot, making it suited well for the feature film format.

The voice acting has always been one of my favorite aspects of BOB’S BURGERS, and it’s as true in the movie as it is in the television series. Belcher family patriarch Bob is voiced brilliantly by H. Jon Benjamin (who also voices the title character in another animated sitcom, ARCHER), and the remainder of the Belcher family are as hilarious and entertaining as ever, due in no small part to these performances (with the exception of youngest daughter Louise, all of the Belchers are voiced by males, including Linda and Tina, yet they’re all perfect for these roles!) Voice casting can make or break an animated series or movie, and it definitely seals the deal here in all the best ways.

The movie juggles its two main stories right well, and while a handful of sequences do drag on slightly longer than they need to, I won’t deny that the pacing, for the most part, fares well. The run time guarantees that the experience never gets tedious, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, there are more surprises around every corner, typically of the hilarious kind. If you haven’t already fallen in love with the Belcher Family, you will before THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE is over. Despite its crude art style and constant laughs, there’s still a heart beneath it all.

The only real issue with the film is its want to pursue numerous subplots, mostly involving the kids, yet none of these ever quite comes to fruition, including Gene’s musical endeavors, Tina being boy crazy, and Louise struggling with being called a baby. Most of these elements could easily have been dropped with no real loss of substance, used for other more promising plot points and the like; they could’ve worked as the “B” story in an episode of the TV series. Though these are minor issues that don’t derail the film.

Flawed but still funny as hell, THE BOB’S BURGERS MOVIE comes highly recommended. If you want to laugh for 100 minutes, this burger order won’t disappoint.