With 18 seasons under creator Matt Groening’s belt, I am very impressed that they managed to come up with an epic story. The Simpsons have done everything in their 18 seasons and yet every new episode is always a creative surprise, while most other sitcoms are going in circles by their sixth year. The story is simple, yet big – so it’s a perfect fit. It really does feel like one big episode, except rather than sitting in your home, you have over a hundred other people laughing with you…

Director Adam Shankman has finally found his calling in musicals. Shankman’s previous filmography includes “The Pacifier,” “A Walk to Remember,” and “Cheaper by the Dozen 2.” It is obvious how his directing has improved. It is surprising, since Shankman is a choreographer, that he hasn’t churned out a musical before…

New director David Yates has excellent staging and control over his scenes, which were written by Michael Goldenberg. Goldenberg, unlike the previous screenwriter, includes all of the scenes that we were really hoping to see from the book. One of the most fantastic scenes has Dumbledore’s army, comprised of Harry and his friends, attempting to produce a patronus charm. Shapes of animals rush out of their wands prancing across the walls of the room…

The transformers themselves are seamless in their CGI creation, but the action sequences are too tightly choreographed in their cinematography that you can’t tell what’s going on. It is entirely possible the CGI renderers are just making the robots roll back and forth on the ground to make it look like they are battling. Other times, when the robots are driving in their car forms, it’s too sleek and comes off as a car commercial. …