Among the funniest movies I have ever seen, but strong regardless

Rating: 9/10 (3 December 2017)

Since today was rather dull, I decided that I should view another movie in my trove to critique. I was somewhat conflicted before I came to a settlement on this. I have seen this movie ever since its premiere on home video, and it's even better than I've always remembered it. Allow me to explain myself.
The story essentially feels like a compilation of 3 Simpsons episodes, but it was structured differently than the TV show in order to make a film plot. As especially notable in its pacing, this works especially to its advantage, though the humor still very strongly delivers. There were many chuckles that came out of me during my viewing and even a few LOLs. One thing I was surprised about was that the slapstick was actually really funny, if familiar coming off a TV show that at that point had existed for 18 years. It has great morals about avoiding selfishness, which resonates today in a society that has become vulnerable to warping by such selfish people. Of course, I'm not going any further because... you know... Anyway, the story does offer some familiarity, but should serve as a tutorial for how to structure film versions of TV shows, much like South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. The animation is also accustomed coming off its parent show, just with a higher budget to differentiate itself. It actually looks pretty brilliant in movie form, as the style used for The Simpsons almost always hits the intended sight gags. Being just a glorified TV episode, though, the animation does have some limitations in effects, especially considering the advancements made to CGI by 2007, but it's probably a nitpick; the animation in a film doesn't necessarily need to be sickly sweet eye candy to be fine. If you are accustomed to The Simpsons, you will know the characters, in which case the returning cast would probably become slightly less interesting. There are plenty of new characters, though, namely the fascinating villain of Russ Cargill. Cargill himself demonstrates the selfishness, as in his overreaches of power, that particularly make the morals Homer learns strong. Beyond that, it might be easy for most of you to identify with the characters, as they are written here in a way that would inform of their traits to newcomers. Oh, yeah, and the Spider-Man parody makes for one cool song. Beyond that, don't remember this film for its music; it isn't a musical, but the songs aren't that pointless depending on the scene. Once again, I have to be nitpicking here...
Whether you know The Simpsons or not, I can almost guarantee that this film will lighten your day. If you aren't a fan of The Simpsons, you might enjoy it for its new characters and ideas, but even then, I have one thing to say. I never was a fan of The Simpsons to begin with for the simple reason that I almost never watched it. Yet, this film managed to entertain me to an end I cannot describe. What does this mean? It means, rhetorically speaking again, that as foreign to the source material you might be, this is not a film to look over. I might even place this, if just slightly, above Ratatouille as the best mainstream animated movie of 2007. It's that great, and I would overall recommend this movie to animation fans.