‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ stacks up the jokes

The long-running, award-winning Fox animated series “Bob’s Burgers,” created by Loren Bouchard, is an unassuming Hollywood success story. Built in the same mold as the “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill,” it’s no surprise that this irreverent, whip-smart and family-oriented animated comedy is such a success, both commercially and creatively. The arrival of a movie version, “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” on big screens this week seems like just the icing on the cake, but the film is also a refreshing contrast to the kind of big screen spectacle that usually crowds theaters in the summer.

“The comedy of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ is manifold, and like a great burger, it works because of the combination of elements melding together to create something singular. There’s the writing, dense with jokes, puns and the cognitive dissonance of little kids making references wiser and naughtier than their years. There’s the voice acting, which makes the writing and characters even funnier. And then there’s the sort of aggressively 2D animation style, which, blown up on the big screen, becomes a positively radical aesthetic. Plus, there are elaborate musical numbers, adding to the deliriously deadpan humor.

It’s this combo that makes “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” not only work, but sing, as one of the funniest, smartest and most unique summer movies of the year, the kind of lighthearted, charming, low-stakes and incredibly intelligent entertainment that is all too rare these days. “Bob’s Burgers” is on its own wavelength, and it’s simply a treat to take that wave for a ride.