Disappointing if you're a fan from the earlier years of the show.

Rating: 6/10 (27 July 2007)

Let me start this review by saying that when "The Simpsons" was at its best it was quite possibly the best show on television. It was clever, funny, sarcastic without coming off as too mean-spirited, and it had a lot of heart. Unfortunately, that was about ten years ago. About halfway through the show's nearly two-decade run it kind of went on a downward spiral from which it has yet to recover. The episode plots started to make less and less sense, the jokes got dumber, and much of the heartfelt sentiment that was part of the best episodes seemed to disappear. In fact, the show that exists now seems to be entirely different from the show I grew up watching. It still has its moments, but for the most part it just isn't the same. If "The Simpsons Movie" came out ten years ago and was based on what the show was in its earlier years, I can guarantee that it would've been better than just about any other movie to come out that year. Sadly, what we have now is a movie based on the "new" show, the show that often favors cheap laughs over the cleverness of the "old" show's glory days.
That's not to say that this movie is a total waste of time. Although I don't think I can recommend this one as much more than a DVD rental or a Saturday afternoon matinée, there was still quite a bit that I did like. There's quite a bit of sharp social commentary about the average American idiot's complete disregard for the environment (the average American idiot is, of course, represented by Homer) as well as the untrustworthiness of our government. There is also some surprisingly touching and emotional subplots that pop up, such as an uncharacteristically lonely Bart looking to Ned Flanders as a father figure, and Homer facing the fact that Marge just might leave him for good (it's a subject that has been handled many times on the show, but it's never seemed quite as sad as it is here). Homer proves once again why he's such a memorable character as well. It's still nearly impossible not to laugh at him, and despite his idiocy and selfishness he proves that deep down he cares more about his family than anything else.
As much as there was for me to like about this movie, there was still a lot that I found kind of annoying. It's hard to explain why, but the script itself feels a little slapdash for my tastes. We don't get into the main plot until about a half-hour, and until then the film seems to consist of a bunch random jokes and general weirdness that feel like they're very loosely tied together. When we do get to the main plot (in which Homer practically single-handedly pollutes Springfield so badly that the corrupt head of the Environmental Protection Agency seals the town inside a gigantic glass dome) it's almost too outlandish even for a Simpsons movie. The movie also seems to go over everything a little too quickly, and as a result some of the more interesting and emotional subplots seem to be short-changed at times in favor of jokes that for the most part aren't nearly as good as the best that the television show had to offer.
While I didn't hate this movie, I have to admit that it was kind of a disappointment to folks like myself who think that the best days of "The Simpsons" are long gone. If given a choice between watching this movie and watching a marathon of "Simpsons" episodes from the first seven or eight seasons, I'd pick the marathon anytime.