Entertaining, but it could have been so much more

Rating: 7/10 (10 December 2007)

Matt Groening's phenomenally successful cartoon creation comes to the big screen with plenty of laughs accompanying it. However, the transfer from television to film is not carried off well. The film seems to be caught between being three very funny episodes of the show and being a down-to-earth-dysfunctional-family film. The result is an unstructured, messy narrative, but an extremely funny film.
As always, the visual style of the cartoons looks brilliant and this truly jumps from small to big screen with aplomb. The voice performances are, as always, superb. However, the plot, such as it is, is not the driving force of the film. It is either servant to the jokes or the environmental parable. This could work for 21-minutes, as it does in the film, but after an hour and a half you're left quite entertained though slightly disappointed.
For fans of the show, then, this is a treat of sorts. The writing is better here than it has been on the show for some years and that will appeal to all, though for those who are not Simpsons-literate, the film will ultimately leave you entertained if unsatisfied.