A single episode's number of laughs stretched out to 87 minutes

Rating: 4/10 (14 September 2008)

"I was right!" was something I was able to say to myself when this movie was complete. That's because I assumed based on other TV cartoons that were stretched into full-length that THE SIMPSONS MOVIE would carry on the tradition of producing a mediocre film. Several Charlie Brown films, THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE and THE POWERPUFF GIRLS movie all were decent enough cartoons that were disappointments on the big screen because the usual pacing of the shows just couldn't be maintained for an entire film.
THE SIMPSON MOVIE certainly has its moments, but the plot involving the evil EPA placing a dome over Springfield could easily have been handled on television. Plus, there just seemed to be a ton of padding--most of which bogged the film down to a crawl--particularly the messages about saving the planet. I am all in favor of protecting the environment, but because the occasionally heavy-handed message seemed out of place in a cartoon comedy, the film had me wanting to trade in my car for a Hummer (no crude joke intended) and eat a Spotted Owl. The bottom line is that the reason 99.673% of its audience watches the show is the humor and irreverence--here, it seemed amazingly blunted and bland thanks to the pacing and environmental message.
So was it a bad film? Not really...but it sure could have been better and it's sure not worth buying the DVD. My advice is save the money and use it to purchase one of the seasons of the great show.
PS--Of the films I mentioned, perhaps Spongebob made the best transition to the theaters. However, considering it was shown on Nickelodeon only months after its theater debut, it obviously had rather modest pretensions.