Not bad but not great either

Rating: 6/10 (27 October 2007)

This film gets off to a promising start with some great gags and set pieces, Bart's naked skateboarding and Homer's antics with a pig. However, as soon as what would have been known in the t.v. series as the 1st act is finished problems start developing. Part of the problem is that things become a bit too plot driven as other people have on this page have mentioned. Also fans will be disappointed that popular characters feature very little (Apu, Mo, Flanders etc.), this is particularly grating as new extremely lame characters are given quite a bit of screen time. A particularly cloying and crappy sentimental sub-plot featuring an annoyingly voiced Irish Greenpeace loving peacenik that Lisa has fallen in tow with springs to mind.
None of this would matter that much if the quality control of the writing had been a little bit more vigorous. There is some very good and funny material in this film but all too often a woefully unfunny line or gag will totally kill the momentum and ruin your' enjoyment of the film, and aspects of the story with great comic potential aren't allowed time to develop( I for one would have liked to see more of the pig).
Yes it is of a much higher standard than most episodes from the last 3 years but for me that is really good enough. I would liked to have see the Simpsons go out with a bang and this film is well, not a whimper, but a dull thud.