Missed its chance

Rating: 7/10 (4 May 2009)

It's a shame that this movie didn't take the opportunity to expand its horizons beyond the confines of the TV show.
If anything, there was less substance to the plot than in the average episode, particularly one from the earlier years when the satire was front and centre. There were very few scenes with anyone other than the core characters, which rather diminished the whole experience. Expecting to carry 90 minutes in a narrower scope than the usual 22 minutes was really asking too much.
What jokes there were seemed to have been written predominantly to appeal to a younger audience. Perhaps the fear was that older movie-goers would not wish to be seen attending a cartoon and therefore a different demographic was needed. There were a handful of the slightly edgy comments that reflect the "old" Simpsons, for example running a preview ticker along the bottom of the screen. However, for the most part these felt perfunctory, almost as if the writers considered that they had to include a minimum number of moments prior to getting back to the farce.
As might be expected, the "reset button" was used to ensure that the continuity of the series was not impacted. This is to be expected, after all, Bart has been should be in his early 30s by now. Unfortunately this does mean that there is no chance of character development or any emotional investment in the film, thereby demanding a greater level of comedy. Which doesn't really come out.
A shame. It was certainly an amusing way to pass the time, but there are better satires out there, and better comedies. The Simpsons is no longer King of the Hill ...