The Bob’s Burgers Movie (2022)

When a ruptured water main creates an enormous sinkhole right in front of Bob’s Burgers, it blocks the entrance indefinitely and ruins 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.

As an avid fan of Bob’s Burgers, I definitely had some hopes and trepidation about this movie. I was hoping it would be like a frenetic, 90-minute episode. But there was also the fear that too many things might be changed for the hopes of making something “accessible.” Unfortunately, the second part was what happened.

Now the story is fine enough, yet another story surrounding the Belcher’s inability to keep up with their bills. The kids go on an adventure to help the family and hijinks ensue. The foundation is there for sure. However, there is just too many “buts” for my taste.

Let’s start with the songs. Typically, songs within the show are pretty spontaneous and weird, and this is really the strength of the series. And then we get that first song….and it is endlessly awful. Maybe it was the improved animation that just made it weird looking, or just the rather lame lyrics. I don’t know. This was a recurring problem, as each song was just more uninteresting than the last. That last song in the submarine room….woof! In all honesty, these were the biggest sins of the movie.

The other problem…it was scaled back for general audiences. The kids are not as mouthy, the double entendres are gone, the innuendo is missing and just the energy is gone. While this sort of thing is built more for the half hour format, there was virtually no sight of this energy in the movie. I only assume the regular writers were exempt from the show to make it easier to sell to kids.

Maybe I am expecting too much, but the shortcomings of this movie was very similar to The Simpsons movie. Maybe half hour shows should not be brought to the movie screen.