What “Bob’s Burgers” has always excelled at is making us laugh while also making us well up with emotions. Loren Bouchard has a real challenge ahead of him developing his short form comedy series in to a feature film, and despite some tumbles narratively, it’s a success. The series has a knack for making me laugh and cry and Bouchard delivers on both fronts. Only this series can feature a hilarious gag of Linda trying to sell burgers in a bikini in one beat, and then revealing the origin of Louise’s rabbit ears in the next beat. Suffice to say I never expected the writers would ever give us a reason as to why Louise is so devoted to her rabbit ears, but the explanation left me on the verge of tears.
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.
Altogether, “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” is a very good time with a longer format story with these characters and this universe. While it does suffer from usual TV adaptations with a narrative that feels overstuffed to fill the feature length, the movie makes a good argument for its existence. While there is no humongous world event, the movie does feature Bob and his clan on the verge of losing their burger spot once and for all. While often they’re always on the edge of closing down, this is their last chance to really make some money for their loan payment, and it indicates a sense of urgency and tension, surprisingly more so Louise than everyone else.
Bob’s luck being Bob’s luck their mission to sell a bunch of burgers is hampered when a huge sink hole in their neighborhood makes it virtually impossible for anyone to enter the restaurant. “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” thankfully delivers on everything we like with a sub-plot for every member of the family, and expanding on characters like Mr. Fischoeder. Sadly, there just isn’t enough screen time for favorites like Ollie and Andy Pesto or Jimmy Pesto Jr. And for obvious reasons Jimmy Pesto has no dialogue and appears only briefly, thus eliminating one of the funniest feuds of the whole series. In either case, the cast are as great as always, with everyone delivering spirited and hilarious performances with their signature characters.
“The Bob’s Burgers Movies” offers up a lot of what we’d expect from this series: sharp comedy, great animation, some catchy musical numbers, and a great underdog tale that—unfortunately—the Belchers are always the center of.