The Bob’s Burgers Movie Is Fun, No Butts About It
Your author as Tina Belcher, cosplaying with family.
Will Tina finally date Jimmy Junior? Will we finally learn the history of Louise’s bunny ears? Will Gene do something involving weird noises? Will the burger of the day involve Swiss chard?
Go see The Bob’s Burgers Movie for the answer to these questions and a lot of laughs.
Is The Bob’s Burgers Movie a long episode of the TV show? Absolutely. Does it matter? Nope. If anything, that works in its favor. Where TV-to-movie outings like The Simpsons Movie swung for the fences with an overstuffed story that collapsed under its own weight, The Bob’s Burgers Movie stays in its swim lane: zany stuff happens, but the Belcher family remains steadfastly, resolutely loving and lovable. No one punches down, everyone has a chance to grow a little, and there are zombies and horses.
It’s consciously structured like a standard episode, with A and B stories, character arcs for each kid, freak-outs galore for Bob, opportunities for Linda to be a little extra, and appearances for nearly everyone in the Belchers’ orbit. The heart of the story is one we’ve seen dozens of times over 12 seasons: the restaurant is failing, and the Belchers are banking on a big local event at the Wonder Wharf to make enough money to stay open for one more month. But when a giant sinkhole opens in front of the restaurant and Louise finds something surprising inside, the kids set off on a quest to solve the mystery and, you guessed it, save the restaurant.
The plot is fast-paced and slightly absurd, but mainly serves as a framing device for some great action scenes, and for each of the Belcher kids to discover something vital about themselves. While the series has never shied away from self-discovery or growth — it’s tackled puberty, sexual awakening and longing, unrequited emotions, and feeling like you don’t belong — 24-minute episodes can only dig so deep. Over 90+ minutes, Louise is able to confront her fears in a genuine way that will resonate with anyone who dealt with bullies. Tina wrestles with a deeply existential question: can the real Jimmy Jr compare to the JJ in her fantasies? And Gene, finally given an opportunity to perform on a big stage, faces stage fright with a napkin dispenser and a plastic spoon, like the adorable goofball he is.
Bob’s Burgers is well known for its music, both the in-episode songs and the post-episode musical bumpers. So it’s no surprise that the movie, given a much bigger budget and longer runtime, features several big production numbers. The songs lean hard into modern show-stopper musical theater style, with hints of Lin Manuel-Mirana style lyrical meter, Les Miserables musical complexity, and West Side Story dance routines. While they are amusing, they feel a bit out of place, a giant “look at what we get to do!” instead of the show’s usual sharp, quick-hit funkiness and style. It’s one of the few examples of the TV show swinging for the movie screen fences and coming up short.
Like ordering the Burger of the Day, The Bob’s Burgers Movie is comfortable and familiar with some new ingredients that make it worth trying. It’s funny. It’s joyful. It’s silly and absurd, but hey, it’s family. It will mainly appeal to fans of the TV show, but it doesn’t rely heavily on inside jokes and seasons’ deep references so people who’ve never seen the series should still enjoy it. It’s a lighthearted, warmhearted comedy that will make you root for three wonderfully unique kids and a local burger joint.
Side note: There is a very short, very cute post-credits scene. As someone with an extremely soft spot for Tina Belcher, it made me quite happy.
The Bob’s Burgers Movie (Fox Studios; PG-13; 1 hour 42 minutes) cooks up a B rating.
