Customer Review(s)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: "Good news everyone! We've made another movie..."
Comment: I was already unhappy with the first
Futurama movie, so I didn't have much hope for the second. I was surprised to see that this installment of
Futurama is actually two awkward subplots mashed together: Lovecraftian horror for the first half, and a meditation on religion on the second half.
On the Lovecraftian side, throw in tentacle attacks, slimy ancient gods from beyond time and space, and the nihilistic view that Heaven is a fabrication and you've got a pretty depressing, semi-creepy, not really all that funny first half. Bender finally makes good on his threat to destroy all humans, Fry conveniently forgets his entire relationship with Leela, the Robot Devil shows up for a one-note gag ... I could go on but I'll stop there.
Judging by the reviews so far, the second half went over a lot of peoples' heads. Yivo is a parody of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which is itself a parody of religion. Basically, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a mental construct posed to challenge the notion of a divine being; if you can disprove that the Spaghetti Monster was responsible you win the argument. "Win" being a pretty subjective word, as anyone knows who has argued about religion or politics.
As one big joke about relationships and religion, Beast With a Billion Backs works pretty well. But for reasons known only to the writers, the plot shambles forward well beyond the Big Revelation by Leela about Yivo, the aforementioned Spaghetti Monster. It's like the drunk guy at a party who tells a joke, discovers no one thinks it's funny, then tells it in a slightly different way that STILL doesn't make it funny. We get it: relationships with people can be just as ridiculous as relationships with God. But this is
Futurama, and while I appreciate the depth of meaning the show strives for with this movie, it feels forced. A multitude of guest appearances doesn't make up for it.
Still, I can't be too harsh on
Futurama. You won't find many animated shows that are willing to take on topics like relationships and religion at the same time, so
Futurama gets points for trying. I just wish it didn't try so hard.
Customer Rating: Summary: Much better than the first movie
Comment: Ok, I have been a big fan of
Futurama and own all of the DVD's, but was very disappointed with the first movie. I thought the story was way too convoluted and simply not funny. I wasn't looking forward to this movie after I read some bad reviews. DON'T BELIEVE THEM! This movie brings it all back home.
Unlike the first movie where it was almost impossible to follow the complex story line, this movie is just like the original series. Its funny and has a great story. Bender is hilarious! You won't be disappointed. Buy it!
Customer Rating: Summary: All three movies
Comment: I have casually watched the series in the past. Recently, I casually watched a few reruns and started really getting into
Futurama. I saw some of Bender's Big Score on TV and then watched the whole movie on DVD.
Of the three, I loved BBS the best. There were a lot of funny jokes and I love how they complexly interwove time travel into the movie. When you watch with the commentary on, you learn of all the thought that went behind this movie (e.g. numbers in the background, how they came up with equations, etc.) which they didn't do in the subsequent two movies. Couldn't watch the whole Hypnotoad episode. Zzzzzz. 5 stars.
The Beast of a Billion Backs was an interesting story but I personally didn't think it was that funny. 3 and half stars = 4 for the story, 3 for the (lack of) laughs.
Bender's Game was funnier than BBB but I'm not crazy about parodies because if you've missed the parodied movie.... In this case, it was the whole
Lord of the Rings trilogy. 4 stars.
Still, I am great fan and will purchase the 4 season episodes.
Customer Rating: Summary: Not Great, But Not Awful...
Comment: I'm a
Futurama fan of a few years... watching the series got me more interested in learning about quirky quantum physics, and other oddities that made the show a gem in the world of animation.
Loved Bender's Big Score... it hearkened back in a small way to season 4, with the exploration of the Fry/Leela relationship. And I like a little drama combined with satire and comedy (and insane characters). Adds depth to the characters, and the show, in my opinion.
That said, I didn't like BWAMB nearly as much as BBBS. It destroyed all the emotional buildup of the end of the original series and the first movie. That threw me off my game in a big way. Also, I would have liked more of the witty zingers and quotables I grew accustomed to with the show.
And I know a lot of people complain about the giant tentacled Yivo. If any of you ever watched a few genuine 1950's B movies, you'd understand why Yivo is there. The DVD cover also makes more sense when you connect BWAMB to movies like The Crawling Eye, and other wacked out sci fi movies of the late 50's. I do admire the
Futurama crew for what they attempted here, in lampooning the B movie genre. Sadly, it doesn't measure up to their standards established by the show. Nor does it go far enough in its satire of b movies.
I hope Bender's Game will be an improvement. I REALLY hope Into The Wild Green Yonder surpasses even that. I've grown rather attached to all the characters, and hope Fry and Leela end up together, and end the movie series (and possibly the entire series) on a happy note. Is real closure too much to ask for?
