Very Good, Hilarious Throughout

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2010)

The toughest thing about making a movie based on "The Simspons" is that the filmmakers would have to come up with something that will ultimately surprise fans of the series and also be a hit with non-fans. "The Simpsons Movie" may have had split opinions upon release and to this day, but as an animated film, it succeeds.
I'm not a big fan of "The Simpsons", I'll watch the show once and a while, and it is one of the finest animated shows out there. Many Simpsons fans love the movie, and many Simpsons fans absolutely hate it. For me, not being a big Simpsons fan, I thought it was good as an animated film on its own. For one thing, the film tried very hard to revive traditional animations, an art form that is sadly dying and trying to come back. Traditional animation has been confined to television over the past few years, while computer animated extravaganzas get released theatrically. (This goes for all the non-Pixar animated films that come and go)
"The Simpsons Movie" opens with a bang. The Itchy and Scratchy cartoon and the movie theater joke at the beginning set the tone of the film. We get a blown-up version of the show's opening and then Green Day performing the theme song. (Not a fan of Green Day)
Springfield has been facing many issues with pollution, a satire of what was going on back in 2006 and 2007 and what is going on now. In years from now, this will probably be dated, unfortunately, but at the time and even now, it's pretty funny. It advances the plot that tries very hard to be more than just a 90-minute episode of "The Simpsons", and I think it succeeds fairly well.
So the first twenty minutes is basically the usual antics. Homer and Bart have a dare contest, which leads to Bart skateboarding naked to Krusty Burger. Lisa falls in love with an Irish boy named Colin (Who didn't have much purpose in the story, unfortunately), Marge pieces together what Grandpa said in church, which later ties into the story. Bart then starts to feel neglected by Homer and turns to Flanders. Homer starts showing attention to a pig that nearly gets killed at the Krusty Burger. Pretty soon, Homer is obsessed with the pig, naming him "Spider-Pig" and "Harry Plopper". (Of course, since those series' then-new installments came out that year) Unfortunately, Homer puts the pigs' waste (and his) in Springfield Lake, which was packed into a makeshift silo. Springfield Lake has now become hazardous. A dome is put over Springfield by the head of the EPA, Russ Cargill, who turns out to be the film's villain.
Once the news reveals that Homer dumped the silo into the lake, an angry mob drives the family (with the exception of Grandpa) out of Springfield. From there, they live in a new life in Alaska. The second act begins, but unfortunately, it isn't as well structured as the first act.
The second act shows that a lot of content was deleted. I am well aware that there was enough content to make "two more films", so they had to cut it down to make a consistent 87-minute film. 87 minutes is a bit too short, I think a 100-110 minute runtime would've been better with a slightly longer second act. I felt the film was shorter by the time the third act was reached, as it breezed through the second act. The first act was quick, but the second act was too quick despite the script and the story.
Thus I felt the middle of the film was a bit forced. The third act is perfectly paced. The climax is a thrill and the film got a bit epic in scope towards the end. Once all ends happily, then it feels like a regular non-epic film. While its structure was still good, the very fast second act could've been improved along with a few other things.
"The Simpsons Movie" is a very funny film, without a doubt. The jokes are well-timed, and since the series gets past the TV censors and onto the big screen, dirtier jokes were pushed for this film. In terms of the animation, "The Simpsons Movie" is nice to look at. The computer animated effects are subtle and the animation looks a little bit more polished than the show. It has the feel of an animated film, rather than a blown-up TV episode. Some people felt that way about this film, I did not.
As an animated film, "The Simpsons Movie" is a fast, funny and often exciting film that can appeal to non-fans of the show. As a "Simpsons" movie, it'll either please fans or disappoint them. Depends on what kind of fans they are. The U.S. box office intake might prove this. A well-made animated film. As a "Simspons" movie, it isn't the greatest. They did what they could do, and I thought they did pretty good.
A 8.5 out of 10.