Change Your Image
nast33
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
Better than the last one, although that doesn't say much
Well, I guess the show finally abandoned the sappy romance and got in joke-after-joke mode. That's... kinda what I wished for, and it's still good, but a lot of the jokes aren't Futurama style, but more of a pop culture parody. Like when Leela says that "Sex and the City - now that's funny". Really? Oh well. Mom's sons acting like the three stooges was also kind of stupid. The writer, whoever he is, did better than the 2nd movie, but again, that doesn't say much. The social comment on gas prices and ecological fuel and whatnot, was covered already for a moment in Bender's Big Score, and that's where it should've stayed. Also, there is the whole "going into a fantasy world" plot hole. How? So, the two crystals combined, and how exactly did the new fantasy universe got there? How exactly did this come out of Bender's imagination? Never explained. Whatever.
Now don't get me wrong, the movie was fine. And that's it. It wasn't sap-filled like the first, it wasn't total bullsh1t in the scenario department like the second, but still they can't seem to hit the perfect balance. Smart, true Futurama jokes, consistent storyline and some, but not too much Fry-Leela relationship.
Futurama movies so far: 1st movie: too much love. 2nd movie: crappy story. 3rd movie: lost of jokes, but most hit-and-miss. 4th movie: Hopefully perfect.
Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008)
Good, but again, way too sappy
First of all, I am a die-hard Futurama fan. I've watched the whole series numerous times, and I keep replaying them again when I have time. I'm saying this because now I will rant about how disappointed I am in the recent two movies(especially this one), and before people try to flame me, hear my reasons.
I thought that the movie will be back to the roots of sci-fi comedy that the series were. I was wrong. It seems like 4 years were too much time for the staff to keep the same spirit. I don't know if it's because they want to broaden their audience, seeing as this is on DVD and has to sell, but I feel like the movies have turned from sci-fi comedy to a chick flick. The first movie emphasized of Fry and Leela's (doomed) relationship, and I thought this one will be different, but this time around the sappy love stories are about Fry and his new girlfriend, Amy and Kiff, and to top it all, a planet-sized alien that loves all of mankind. I have nothing against sappy as long as it's in norm, but this movie is mostly about it. The jokes are there in the first 30 minutes maybe, then there is nothing but love story with occasional short gags.
Note to authors: don't write 10 minute romance filled scenes, and try to put in 5-second jokes about Calculon's willie, gonorrhea, or nipple stimulation for relief. It's not working. They did not keep me from getting annoyed. I never laughed out loud during the movie as I did with the series.
Now that I am done ranting, I will say what I liked and didn't like about the movie. This one was good, it had less in-jokes than the first one, but it had them more overall. The story was good enough, they tried to intertwine a few different side stories into the main plot, and it sort of worked. When we exclude all the sap from the story, it's a good movie, that has scenes almost as great as the first one did(nothing can top the space battle against the solid-gold deathstars, though), nice soundtrack and good gags.
The movie's weaknesses, although minor if we exclude the sap, the under-utilizing of some characters. Zoidberg, for example, keeps being used as a prop, although they can make great jokes with him when they try. Same problem as Kenny in South Park. Other weakness, is that as in the first movie, the tempo really slowed down in some parts and the scenario is somewhere between mediocre and good.
For conclusion, as a big fan of the series, I tried to force myself to love it. I really did, but I couldn't. It was good overall, but that's it. If they make the next two movies as they should - sci-fi comedies - I will be really pleased. Right now they keep feeding me romantic movies with sci-fi setting, and that's not doing it for me. If I want to watch a sappy romantic movie, I will rent a chick flick.
Finally I would give it a score of 6 overall, which is low for Futurama. I hope this doesn't turn into standard and the next two movies be much better.