When it comes to The Simpsons, longevity is an asset few can ignore. 18 years old and counting, the TV series has carved its niche into pop culture. Most of today’s high school students hadn’t been born when The Simpsons debuted as filler on Tracey Ullman’s variety show. It’s no longer as fresh, as acerbic, and as popular as it once was, but could one expect anything else from a show that has turned out about 400 twenty-two minute episodes? It is a little odd that it has taken so long for The Simpsons to make the transition from the small screen to the big one; there has been talk about a movie since the mid-’90s. While nothing in this motion picture quite matches the television series at its early best, this is more of a throwback than a throw-away. It’s wittier and more energetic than anything that has appeared on FOX in quite a few years.
The film’s irreverence is at full throttle from the opening moments when Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) wonders aloud why anyone would be stupid enough to pay money to see something in a theater they can see for free on TV. Later, there’s a none-too-subtle jab at FOX’s...