Both as funny and as disappointing as you'd expect.

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2007)

Having viewed a screening this morning, I thought I'd throw down my thoughts... seeing as I seem to be the first. The Simpsons Movie is just what you'd expect. The characters are all there, the tone is the same... it really is just a big, cinema scope episode of the show. In order to make the big screen transition seem worthwhile, the stakes have been raised, the animation contains flourishes of detail you'd never normally see, and there are a handful of elements designed to shock certain demographics just enough to get people talking, but not so much as to create any genuine scandal. While funny (particularly in the first half), you can't help but feel a nagging sense of disappointment. Partly for opportunities missed, but mostly because it really is just a super-sized episode of the show from TV. I don't think anyone's going to be surprised by this though - it's not as if they were going to break the format in any major (or even minor) way. After opening with an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, the titles follow the same format as the series, visiting mainly different locations in Springfield, but being fundamentally recognizable. From there, the first half is well paced and humorous and visits the majority of the characters one hopes to see. Various elements are very effectively set up in the first half and the wheels being very much in motion throughout, once the plot really starts to kick in (about the 40 minute mark) the film starts a gradual slide into mediocrity. The progression of the necessary story events takes a front seat and the humor drops off. Everything becomes quite predictable. It's not that any of it is bad - it's just no better than the show. If you watch it with a crowd, you'll laugh the majority of the time, just don't expect any quantum leap from what you see on TV. Sure, there are some nifty 3D tricks on display (and a few bad ones - check out the sides of screen during the "camera move" through the torch-bearing angry mob and you'll see the figures become pixelated with digital zoom as they pass through extreme foreground), everything is bigger and the stakes are higher, but you won't find a single surprise here. Maybe that's the point though. This franchise has become something of an elder statesman of popular culture, do we really want to see anything change? If you're reading this, you know you're going to see this film. I just advise to free yourself of any unnecessary expectation - you'll enjoy it a lot more if you do. Neither great nor bad, The Simpsons Movie coasts through with the occasional spark of brilliance. Just like the show really.