Family Guy CAN be funny for 90 minutes!

OVERVIEW

When I first heard that Family Guy was making a straight-to-DVD movie, I was a bit worried. As a diehard Family Guy fan, I was afraid that stretching the show out for almost 1.5 hours (88 minutes) would ruin the format. Fortunately, I was proven to be quite incorrect on this assumption!

BRIEF HISTORY

For those of you new to Family Guy, the show is an adult cartoon that stars a middle-class family from Quahog, Rhode Island. The show satires the old fashioned format of sitcoms with the family who has everyday problems and mishaps. However, Family Guy pushes the button over and over with things such as drugs, alcohol, sex, religion, politics, and even the network itself. One strong point in the show is that EVERYONE is targeted and people of all affiliations/sexes/religions/etc. will have equal time in the light. The show had a cult following upon is appearance in 1999, but was cancelled due to impossible scheduling slots and competition. Due to record DVD sales and newfound fame on Adult Swim, FOX decided to "uncancel" the show in May of 2005. Shortly afterward, this very movie was created to give fans yet something else to cherish on DVD.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS:

Stewie, the baby-genius child of the family, sees someone on television who appears to be his father. Believing that he could in no way be a part of his idiotic and dysfunctional family, Stewie sets out find his long-lost father. Hilarity ensues.

CONTENT:

The movie is beautifully told and I could hardly believe that the movie was 4 times the length of a regular show (after commercials, a normal show runs a mere 22 minutes). The movie is in fact told in three "parts" which are seamlessly strung together with fillers and transitions. Supposedly, the three parts are due to air on late-night television, but some editing will be necessary on the movie's racier parts. The beginning and end of the movie feature an award show theme with the Griffin family themselves walking on the red carpet. I believe that those parts make up some of the best parts of the movie, so don't count them out. The plot itself flows really well, and the jokes just keep coming. I believe that the longer time and ability to be uncensored allow some of the jokes you'd WANT to see to be shown in the movie. I won't spoil the fun, but look for plenty of references to popular characters as well as plenty of "going there" throughout the movie. Although this may seem obvious, this movie is unrated, so the content is much racier than on television. It's no worse than any rated R movie, but I'd advise parents who are iffy about the show to watch this one first. The animation, voices, and music are all right on, and anyone who would happen upon someone else watching the movie might easily assume that it is the show itself. As with other Family Guy DVDs, commentary is available as well as bonus material which shows some of the animation processes. The only audio language is English, but French and Spanish subtitles are available.

OVERALL:

If you love Family Guy, then definitely pick this one up. It's filled everything that the show offers plus the stuff that you can't see on TV. People new to the show will even enjoy this 88 minute romp of fun.
9/10