I have tried very hard to like this movie

Rating: 4/10 (20 June 2013)

An 18-year wait for...this? The Simpsons movie lets the credits roll at the 77-minute mark and barely delivers anything memorable as the jumbled, unworkable script struggles through flat deviations and repetitive plot points (Homer and Marge having marriage trouble AGAIN...really???). The caustic satire and lampooning of politics that even the worst episodes of the show are laced with are utterly absent here. After 158 drafts by 15 different writers whatever original, worthy ideas they might have had are all carelessly mashed together, neutering all of them in the process.
When Lisa points out that Lake Springfield is dangerously polluted to the point of crisis, Mayor Quimby orders a clean-up. Homer disobeys and dumps a silo of pig feces in it, causing an immediate toxic surge. The EPA seal the town in a giant dome to contain the pollution, proving Grandpa's vision in church to be true. The Simpsons escape the wrath of townsfolk and flee to Alaska for a new life.
Wow! How about THAT for a horribly convoluted plot synopsis. I mean...Alaska? How could it take 18 years to come up with this? The comedic timing is just...wrong. The movie is broken on so many levels, it feels nothing like the TV show. It's such a weird, dissatisfying experience. The scope widescreen composition is very good however, and Hans Zimmer provides a truly wonderful score which is far better than his other more popular efforts in recent years.
The Simpsons Movie is not something I can watch again and again, it lacks the vital spark of the show while at the same time feeling like a 3-episode arc. Groening says it will be a very long time before we see a sequel but they really to spend that time coming up with something great? How about The Simpsons Xmas Movie? Or a 3-hour Bartman mini-series? The possibilities are endless, and this movie squanders the immense Simpsons universe on a rotten script.