Great

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2007)

I think like most people who are fans of the series, i dreaded to see this movie. That's also why i waited a few weeks after the premiere before actually going (and another few weeks before writing about it). I guess the thing i was most afraid of was the whole "another episode of Simpsons, just 90 minutes long". And was it? Both yes and no.
Making a movie out of The Simpsons seems like a long overdue project. The South Park movie was released long ago after all and The Simpsons have all the elements you need for a good movie. I guess the only problems really would be originality and the fact that if you want the series to continue after the movie, you can't really change all that much.
I can begin by saying that while this movie wasn't really that original (the story is very much like the series after all) this is still a very entertaining movie. And it didn't actually feel like an overly long episode of the series either. Rather it felt like a real movie with a proper story arc and time line.
The real winner here though is the pace. This movie moves at breakneck speed with jokes coming constantly both left and right. It reminds me of movies like Airplane! where there almost always something funny going on. Here they also have a lot of stereotypes and well-known characters to play with and use for effect.
Honestly i can say that i don't think a movie based on The Simpsons could have been done much better. It's entertaining, quick-paced, a real movie (when you look at the script and the story) and the look is classic Simpsons with just a little more visual flare added. Maybe i would have liked a storyline that was a bit more drastic and had a more dramatic impact on the Simpsons universe. But in the end i have to be satisfied with this movie. It's great.
8/10