Pretty much everyone knows by now that The Simpsons Movie has defied all expectations by storming the box-office, and has become one of the most successful films so far this year. Everyone knows this, as everyone has been to see it. But for the few who haven’t, is it worth the attention?

Much doubt has been attached to the film since its teaser trailers early this year. It is almost universally recognised that the show is getting increasingly worse. What do you expect after 19 years on air? Many felt that the film was just too late in the career of the show.

Many critics have felt that the film failed to make the transition to the big screen. This is mostly due to the notion of plot. Plot never figured heavily in the show, instead a story was thrown together in order to provide the jokes, as is the basic technique of every sitcom. When entering the cinema, a feature film is generally thought to require a strong plot. Even Borat attempted to link his scams through a story-line (however superfluous). And to be honest, The Simpsons Movie does attempt to do this.

The plot concerns the segregation of Springfield from the rest of the world by a huge dome due to its abundant pollution, brought to its extreme by Homer’s bumbling. The Simpsons escape the dome, but discover that the town could be destroyed unless they act. Sure, the threat on Springfield has been featured in the series before, but what hasn’t been included in its 400 30-minute episodes? And the film does attempt to upgrade its visual by using CGI in most scenes.

Sadly, the attempt to construct a coherent plot fails. It all gets a bit silly towards the end, and often has to distract the audience with diverting jokes. One example is Lisa’s love-interest, Colin, who offers only one joke throughout the movie, and beyond that, offers nothing else to the film.

But what about the jokes? I watch reruns of The Simpsons almost every day, and never get tired of its key episodes, which comprise of the first 6 seasons. Since then the successful joke ratio has dropped. Since I haven’t seen anything from the last four seasons, I was expecting little from the movie, but was pleasantly surprised. There are plenty of quotable moments littered throughout (President Schwarzenegger: “I was elected to lead, not to read”). There are times when some jokes are drawn out a few seconds too long as to destroy the scene’s comic timing (The fake chainsaw scene from the trailers). This is something evident in the more recent episodes of the series. But there are glimpses of true genius, that are genuinely surprising, such as Bart’s naked skateboarding, and in an inspired pre-emptive moment of self-awareness, Ralph’s response “I like boys now”.

Overall, The Simpsons Movie will depend on how you regard it in relation to the series. If you expect the peaks of the early episodes, you will be sorely disappointed. But what do you expect when you compare it against perfection? But there’s enough in the film to set it slightly above the quality of the current episodes. As a film, it’s a bit of a mess, but I’ve yet to see a funnier film this year (bearing in mind I haven’t seen Knocked Up yet). It may not be as clever or daring as South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, but it is far better than the Family Guy “TV movie”.