The Bob’s Burgers Movie (2022)

(On Cable TV, November 2022) Part of why I keep watching movies based on unfamiliar properties is the challenging aspect of it: Will The Bob’s Burgers Movie make sense if I haven’t seen more than five minutes of the TV show? Is it built to accommodate new viewers? Does it work as a standalone piece of fiction rather than a parade of self-referential winks? Does it feel like a movie-level story or an extended episode? Here, the answers are generally positive: The film does an acceptable amount of work in introducing what you need to know, tackles an ambitious story, and can be enjoyed as a standalone film even if the more pointed references remain for fans. As helmed by showrunners Loren Bouchard and Bernard Derriman, The Bob’s Burgers Movie begins as a sinkhole appears in front of the restaurant, effectively closing it down until the characters get the obvious idea of taking the restaurant outside the restaurant. But that sinkhole gets more interesting once some exploration reveals a body, and so a murder mystery with an active killer still on the loose. The nearby pier has a number of secrets to reveal, and the characters are all swept along on a rollercoaster of eccentric events. The whodunit aspect is effective at creating interest while the characters are reintroduced (although some character-driven subplots feel slight), and the musical numbers are an excuse for the film to stretch itself a bit. In the end, I was satisfied by The Bob’s Burgers Movie—although not particularly moved to try the show.