Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs

You won't ever hear me claim that "Futurama" is a better series than "The Simpsons", but it was undeniably the work of geniuses, and I always regretted that it ended rather abruptly after four seasons already. At the same time, of course, one could also state the series stopped (or at least temporarily stopped) at its creative peak and while it was still funny, which isn't exactly what can be said for "The Simpsons". One thing's for sure, when the plug was pulled on "Futurama", the writers still had tons of great inspiration!

"The Beast with a Million Backs", as well as the other three straight-to-video full length movies, are of the same high intellectual and comical quality levels as the series. This means the plot is original and well-elaborated, the script exists of an endless spitfire of genuinely hilarious gags and situational humor, and - most importantly to me - the little references and tributes towards classical Sci-Fi/cult landmarks. There are obvious homages and subtle ones, and I probably also see a lot of little references to obscure films that weren't intentional, but it's what I love most about "Futurama".

The Beast with a Billion Backs, the very title is an adult joke that kids won't understand which pretty much sums Futurama as a show up.

It follows on from the events of Benders Big Score (2007) and see's Earth under attack from a multi-tentacled entity whose intentions are anything but PG. Not quite Japanese anime level but still pretty questionable stuff.

Failing to hit the emotional heights of the previous movie it is thankfully loaded with a few more jokes. Sadly I still don't find it all that funny, it's like the Simpsons just without the charm.

I'm yet to binge Futurama and still have a couple more feature films to view, but can confidently say that though I don't dislike it the adventures of the Planet Express do little for me.

The Good:

There are laughs to be had

The Bad:

Story is a tad uncomfortable for a light hearted show like this

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I was told there would be sugar syrup!

When you have one eye winking and blinking are indistinguishable

Nixon was known for his class

This movie isn't really as bad as everyone seems to be saying. My only problem is it feels rather segmented/disjointed, as if it's 3 separate movies (probably due to the fact that it's basically 3 episodes strung together). Other than that, the jokes, especially in the 1st half hour are fast-paced and hilarious. I laughed way more than I did during Bender's Big Score, which only managed to get a couple chuckles and nostalgic smiles out of me. Really, the only reason there's any problem at all is that they're forcing themselves to write 90 minute episodes, where they really shine in the 30 minute block. If you're a fan of the series, you should (in theory) be quite happy with this.

A rip in the very fabric of time and space sees another universe potentially linked to the one more familiar to the crew of Planet Express. However, it has been there a while and the initial panic and fear has sapped into acceptance with a bit of fear. The intension is to launch a scientific mission to travel to the rift and study it, a mission that Fry decides not to go on as he thinks he has found love in a new relationship. The expedition doesn't bring back much in the way of information but very soon it becomes clear that something is coming through and taking over the world – but what are its intentions?

I came to the first Futurama film hoping for it to be just as good as the TV show – not brilliant but just funny and creative. I was disappointed there but I wanted to watch the next film regardless. The improvements are obvious because the narrative is slightly more focused and does feel like it is all part of the same film. Of course it is not perfect and for stretches it does feel fragmented and unsure of itself – but just not as bad as the first film. What it feels like though is that they are filling the time with plot rather than anything else, so instead of having one central story, the threads are expanded to fill time even if the material or substance isn't really there to do it. As with Bender's Big Score, this film doesn't ever convince that it has enough about it to justify being 80 minutes long – and that is not even that long for a film. So Amy and Kif relationship appears to be there just to fill time, likewise Fry's relationship and, although funny, the League of Robots feels dropped in as well.

It is funnier though and for that I am grateful but it is not funny enough because the writers do seems to have focused on filling the film with plot rather than laughs. The cast do as well as one would expect, given that this is hardly a testing film to act in. West and Di Maggio have the lion's share but the other cast (Tom, Sagal etc) are also good and the additions of Cross, Castellaneta and Murphy are good in their voice work. In terms of animation you can see more money has been spent on it and it does look good while also keeping the feel of Futurama.

Beast with a Billion Backs is better than Bender's Big Score but it still suffers from many of the same problems. The script is not loaded with laughs and gags but rather lots of plotting to try and fill the long running time. However it is not "one" story but rather lots of bits pieced vaguely together and the feel of time being filled is unavoidable. So an improvement but still not great – hopefully the next few films over the next few years will be better.

Unfortunately, this movie does not live up to the standards of the perfect track record of the Fox series. It does have several good moments, its trademark goofy sci-fi inventions, and all the voice actors from the show, but it left me unsatisfied. It looks like the cardinal rule of any phenomenal TV show is true-- if it's canceled, keep it that way. I'm afraid Futurama's gone the route of ol' Family Guy, whose first 50 episodes (all prior to cancellation) were superb. After those, an okay movie, followed by a terrible wheelbarrow of rehashed jokes and overused side characters heaped together with family guy merch out the wazoo. Futurama is still my favorite show, but this movie is not representative of the show.