Critical Reaction

The film garnered a 89% "Certified Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes,and a rating of 80 out of 100 (signifying "generally favorable reviews") at Metacritic.Both The Guardian and The Times gave the film four out of five stars. The Times' James Bone commented, "the film boasts the same sly cultural references and flashes of brilliance that have earned the television series a following that ranges from tots to comparative literature PhDs,"while The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw stated that "The Simpsons Movie gives you everything you could possibly want, and maybe it's a victim of its own gargantuan accomplishment. Eighty-five minutes is not long enough to do justice to 17 years of comedy genius. It's still great stuff."Ed Gonzalez praised the film's political message, likening the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon at the beginning to President Schwarzenegger's situation later on, as well as praising the film's many sight gags.Randy Shulman gave strong praise of the cast who he described as having "elevated their vocal work to a craft that goes way beyond simple line readings," particularly Kavner who "gave what must be the most heartfelt performance ever to find its way into a movie based on an irreverent cartoon".Roger Ebert although "not generally a fan of movies spun off from TV animation", gave a positive review calling it a "radical and simple at the same time, subversive and good-hearted, offensive without really meaning to be."Richard Corliss of Time decided that the film "was worth waiting for" as "it doesn't try to be ruder or kinkier, just bigger and better."

USA Today film critic Claudia Puig found that the film "does warrant a full-length feature, thanks to a clever plot and non-stop irreverent humor", but stated that some fans may "miss seeing their favorite characters, a few regulars are pared down, and others don't show up at all."Patrick Kolan found that the film was "easily the best stuff to come from the house of Simpson since season 12 or 13" and praised the animation, but commented on the "small and unfunny" appearances of characters such as Comic Book Guy and Seymour Skinner.Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film's good nature, stating the laughs "come in all sizes", although noting that "little has been gained bringing the Simpsons to the screen."Variety's Brian Lowry called it "clever, irreverent, satirical and outfitted" and that it was "just barely" capable of sustaining a longer plot than a television episode.Lisa Schwarzbaum praised the voice cast but noted that the "action sequences sometimes falter."

Empire reviewer Ian Nathan gave the film two stars, comparing it to New Coke as "it utterly failed."Phil Villarreal noted that there are "too few laugh-worthy moments" and that "instead of stretching to new frontiers, the film rests on the familiar."Sheila Johnston of The Telegraph found that "the overall momentum flags at times" as the film overstretches itself, being "a salvo of comic squibs, some very funny, others limp,"whilst David Edwards wrote that "there's a great half-hour show rattling around in here somewhere, but the rest is padding at its very dullest".Cosmo Landesman stated that "the humour seems to have lost its satirical bite and wit" and that "much of the comedy is structured around the idiocy of Homer, which is a shame".Bruce Newman criticized the fleeting appearances of many of the show's secondary characters, finding the film "[not] a disaster, just a disappointment."