It would not be in the least bit controversial to suggest that The Simpsons peaked many years ago and has existed in a miserable, mediocre plateau for the best part of a decade and a half. Conventional wisdom states that since at least season ten, the show has been a shadow of it's former self, replacing highbrow satire, masterful slapstick and subversive messages with sub-par pop culture references and easy humour - oftentimes, new editions of the show feel like poor copies of Family Guy. The only thing remarkable about The Simpsons these days is the show it once was.

   The 2007 film, sadly and despite a reunion of sorts of some of the animation's greatest creative talents on the project, takes the form of an extended episode of latter day Simpsons - this, in case you are uncertain, is by no means a good thing. Homer Simpson, the lazy but good-hearted slob of the show's early years, for example, continues in his latter-day guise as a cartoon character jerk who cares for unrealistic hi-jinx over all else. Celebrity cameos, of which there are plenty here, seem to displace any desire for refining and sculpting the classic and timeless jokes the family are capable of. Green Day playing violins on a sinking stage hardly compares to the exchange which coined the term " cromulent ".

   Whilst it's easy to lament over what the film could have been, it is much more worthwhile considering what The Simpsons Movie actually is with the context of the show which begot it removed. In short, the David Silverman film is scattershot, uneven, and, most crucially of all, fails to pass muster as a mirth-raising exercise - laughs are few and far between.

   The most intriguing part of the film, however, is seeing such beloved and iconic characters appear in a terribly underdeveloped feature. Imagine, if you will, the cast of Spinal Tap, Airplane! or Anchorman (or whichever comedy classic you hold most dear) appearing in White Chicks - this is an exaggerated way of saying The Simpsons Movie isn't very good. Not cromulent at all.