The Simpsons Movie (2007)
★★★ — The Simpsons Movie (2007)
By the time The Simpsons Movie arrived in cinemas in the summer of 2007, the question it had to answer was one that had been hanging in the air for the better part of a decade: could the world's most famous animated family make the jump to the big screen without simply feeling like a bloated television episode? The film had been in various stages of development since the early 1990s, with the production famously cycling through multiple writers and countless discarded scripts before the final version came together. What eventually landed was a fairly straightforward disaster-comedy premise: Homer's chronic irresponsibility tips Springfield into a full-blown environmental crisis, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency to seal the entire town under a giant glass dome, and the Simpsons family to go on the run. It is, by design, bigger and louder than anything the series had previously attempted, with a theatrical budget to match the ambition.
David Silverman, who had been part of the show's production from its earliest days, directed the film. His background is almost entirely rooted in the Simpsons universe, which perhaps explains both the film's fluency with the show's visual language and some of its limitations. Produced by Gracie Films and distributed through 20th Century Fox, the project had the full institutional weight of the franchise behind it. The script was developed by a writing committee that included several names closely associated with the series across its various eras, though by 2007 the show was already well into its later, more uneven period. For fans with a particular fondness for animated features, it's worth also checking out my review of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Josep, two very different examples of what the animation format can achieve when it is working at full stretch.
The principal voice cast is, of course, the long-established ensemble that audiences had spent nearly two decades with by that point. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardley Smith reprise their central roles as Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa respectively, bringing the kind of easy familiarity that comes from years of inhabiting the same characters. Hank Azaria handles several of his long-running supporting roles, including Chief Wiggum and Apu, among others. There is something quietly remarkable about the consistency of these performances over such a sustained period, whatever one might think of the material they were given to work with here. The film runs at a trim 87 minutes, which at least keeps things moving.
The Simpsons Movie (2007) is a big, loud, colourful extension of the show’s spirit, packed with gags, cutaways, and enough Springfield absurdity to keep kids and casual fans laughing. The plot (Homer’s selfish act pollutes Lake Springfield, leading to an EPA cover-up and a dome sealing off the town) is silly but works as a satirical action-comedy backdrop. There are standout moments: Green Day’s ill-fated cleanup, Russ Cargill’s villainous monologues, the family on the run, and that iconic “D’oh!” echoing through space. It’s funny, fast, and full of heart when it needs to be. But for longtime fans, something’s missing. Compared to the sharp writing and emotional depth of the early seasons, the film feels broader, glossier, and less real. The characters are exaggerated into caricatures, the satire lacks bite, and the story leans too hard on spectacle over substance. It’s clear the show had long passed its peak by this point, and the movie amplifies the flaws, the sentimentality, the formula, the sense that it’s chasing nostalgia rather than creating it. Entertaining, occasionally brilliant, but ultimately a reminder of how far the series had fallen. A fun ride while it lasts, but not the masterpiece Springfield deserved.
When I look back at what the 2000s were producing across different corners of cinema, films like Yi Yi remind me just how much emotional precision storytelling can carry when it is genuinely reaching for something, and that contrast makes the Simpsons film's glossier instincts all the more apparent. And if you want a comedy that earns its laughs through something a bit more grounded, my review of Cigarette is worth a look. For all its energy and the genuine affection I have for Springfield at its best, this one sits comfortably in the "perfectly good fun" pile rather than anywhere near the classics shelf. Sometimes a dome is just a dome.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2007 | Watched: 2025-09-26
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for The Simpsons Movie (2007) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Disney Plus · Channel 4 Plus
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: Disney Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from the 2000s: Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) · Daredevil (2003) · Apocalypto (2006)
More animation: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
