It feels right.

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2007)

What struck me most about "The Simpsons Movie" - which has been in development for almost an entire decade - is that it really does *feel* like a piece of the past. During the mid-to-late-'90s, a lot of famous cartoon shows were getting big screen adaptations - and the style and scope of these cinematic efforts were all quite similar. "The Simpsons Movie" fits in well - similar to the "South Park" motion picture, it builds on the strength of the television show while using improved animation, a bigger story, and raunchier jokes.
"The Simpsons Movie" isn't brilliant, and one can't help but imagine that a feature film made some time around the show's 5th and 6th seasons would have been far funnier, but it *is* a very good movie and it's also a lot better than any recent seasons of the show (which have been in gradual decline for quite some time). One thing that the show has done recently is focus less on the actual characters - Homer has just turned into a slapstick buffoon, whereas in the earlier seasons he was a more realistic idiot who just got into funny predicaments. The movie is more in-tune with the older version of Homer - he does incredibly idiotic things, but the film focuses on the emotions of the character as well. Ditto for Bart - perhaps the show's most emotionally underdeveloped character finally gets some emphasis.
The film is very entertaining and short enough that it doesn't outstay its welcome. But it does have flaws - it feels rather bloated, and the producers admirably try to include most of the characters from the TV show, but at a certain point this means focusing less on more interesting and consistent show regulars such as Mr. Burns and Smithers (who are woefully neglected for most of the movie and really only have one funny scene - during the credits!).
You can tell this is a movie and not just an expanded episode of the TV show - it definitely *feels* like a blockbuster adaptation and you can also feel the long wait for this movie - it's truly shocking that it's taken them almost 20 years to bring a movie to the big screen given the huge, huge success of the TV show and merchandising profits over the years.
The good news is that they didn't fail - it's a funny, entertaining movie and does justice to the show (even the earlier seasons). The thing is, it's hard to say whether a 5th/6th season era movie would have been better, because that early on in the show the producers might have felt rushed to deliver a film and the result could have actually ended up harming the show's reputation early on if it had failed. I do think it's a good thing that they waited this long to bring a movie to the big screen - and by waiting long enough and really developing the film over the years and investing time into the project, they've delivered a movie that's funnier than most recent seasons of the show - *and* contains more emotional resonance than I've seen on the show in over ten years.
This is definitely one to see at least once on the big screen and later on once it reaches DVD. You may walk away feeling a bit underwhelmed given the near-20-years it's taken for the film to hit, or you may exit the theater with some fan gripes of your own, but I think it's safe to say that if you're a fan of the show - especially the older seasons - you'll at least walk away feeling somewhat satisfied. It may not be a great movie but it's a highly entertaining, very funny one - and, perhaps most importantly, it's not a disgrace to the legacy of the TV show by a long shot.