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Rating: It is customary nowadays to turn a popular TV series into an actual feature film, especially if the interest in said series becomes increasingly chaotic and booming. Although at first glance these "continuation" efforts appear mostly as "gifts" directed to the most die-hard fans who don't want to see the words "The (real) end" flash on screen, sequels, prequels, and spin-offs actually wink at the wallet, profiting off the naive enthusiasm of cathode tube-addicts.
An exception might be "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story", a film intended to replace three episodes of the famous animated series during the period when it was suspended: absolutely disconnected plot, very few stylistic falls typical of the short-film translation, and the same humorous/satirical punch provided by the most irreverent Yankee family (on par with the “next-door neighbors” The Simpsons). The ingredients made in The Griffins all show up: Peter's "flashbacks" (and not just his), politically-incorrect topics, appearances by the main characters (primarily the malevolent Freudian polymorph Stewie), as well as the classic cauldron of American stereotypes. In short, a work that almost perfectly presents the Griffin-style from individual episodes.
As previously mentioned, the plot splits into multiple intertwining mini-narratives: there's the brief TV-journalistic career of Peter, responsible for the column "What Really Grinds My Gears", the attempts of the head of the family and his wife Lois to regain privacy thwarted by their "obnoxious" kids Chris and Meg, as well as the seduction school proposed by Peter and his spouse to their clumsy offspring. The central point of the film, however, lies in the (mis)adventures of Stewie, aiming to identify what he considers to be his real parentage, once he sees a face similar to his on television. Arriving in San Francisco with the frenemy dog Brian, he manages to confront the similar subject, the same thirty-five-year-old Stewie, who is "on vacation" from the future.
The infant Stewie deceitfully reaches his adult counterpart in his era, learning the condition reserved for himself and his family: he, a virginal, asocial salesperson, residing in a dingy apartment, brother Chris a policeman married to a wicked Vanessa, sister Meg who has become Ron after a sex change, Brian having died from chocolate, and Peter and Lois now old and destined for the Retirement Home due to the fierce will of their daughter-in-law. The child, shocked by a future not exactly reflecting his current life plans (directed towards world domination after potential matricide), decides to redeem, unsuccessfully, the pathetic existence of his mature self, and then understands the reasons for such a pitiful life. They, indeed, concern a specific childhood episode (the collapse of the lifeguard's tower and a pre-mortem experience in Hell during the moments of fainting due to the crash) that, subconsciously, turned a diabolical and bold mind into a miserable and bland, fearful and cowardly being. Returning to the time of the incident, infant Stewie thwarts the tragedy and resets an embarrassing future.
Irreverent, fun, ironic, a magnificent exaltation of the "Griffin-comedy" myth: avoiding getting lost in situations (romantic, serious, moralizing, extremely fantastic) that could compromise the purity of the show (toward the end credits, Peter tries to provide a sort of "life lesson", namely a large intestinal emission), the film emphasizes the "flashbacks", genuine jests about current events (better, rumors, scandals, and contemporary gossip) and on fellow "fictions": the parody of Bugs Bunny shot by Elmer Fudd, the thawing of Walt Disney's body, halted by him upon learning of the non-extinction of Jews, Britney Spears' "comeback", obese, with a wooden leg and in a wheelchair, yet convinced of being "sexier than ever", and so on.
To those who, upon viewing the tete-a-tetes of Peter and associates, roll around laughing on the couch only to end up on the tile floor, to those who want to be sucked into the Griffin vortex and savor animated satire par excellence... well, here's what you've been looking for, perhaps for some gloomy evening, accompanied by friends and hot chocolates.
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