I love Futurama. I loved it when it was on. I loved it in re-runs. I loved it on DVD. So I was extremely excited about its return. However, the first of four straight-to-DVD movies, Bender’s Big Score, left me feeling sort of meh. But I was willing to cut them a little slack. It’s hard to take several years off, then jump right back into the story and characters. So I focused all my pent-up fanboy expectations on the second release, The Beast with a Billion Backs. Good news, everyone! It’s a better offering than Bender’s Big Score, but if you’re looking for more than a passing feeling of satisfaction, you might be disappointed. I really believe that Futurama works best in the 22-minute format. The pace is quicker, the jokes fly faster and you get just enough of all the characters. These films have a decidedly slower pace, too many of the jokes rely on gross-out humor and by the end, it’s kind of hard to care about any of these folks anymore. The animation is great, the voice acting is top-notch, and I will watch it again, but I’m reluctant to recommend it to anyone but a diehard Futurama fans. Here’s hoping the third time’s the charm, and the third installment keeps improving the game.
The DVD art is gorgeous. The interior art is good, too. It also comes with a couple of art postcards. Very cool. A couple of high points I forgot to mention: Robot Devil shows up! I love him. And Hedonism-Bot makes a return.
Razz-Bel 06/26/2008 04:35 pm
The image on the boxset looks like something from an old style comic book or sci-fi magazine. I’m still not done with my season sets yet. I have to agree with you on the whole 22 minute chunk format. Less is more.
Kill All Humans!
By Chance
June 25, 2008 at 6:21PM EDT
I love Futurama. I loved it when it was on. I loved it in re-runs. I loved it on DVD. So I was extremely excited about its return. However, the first of four straight-to-DVD movies, Bender’s Big Score, left me feeling sort of meh. But I was willing to cut them a little slack. It’s hard to take several years off, then jump right back into the story and characters. So I focused all my pent-up fanboy expectations on the second release, The Beast with a Billion Backs. Good news, everyone! It’s a better offering than Bender’s Big Score, but if you’re looking for more than a passing feeling of satisfaction, you might be disappointed. I really believe that Futurama works best in the 22-minute format. The pace is quicker, the jokes fly faster and you get just enough of all the characters. These films have a decidedly slower pace, too many of the jokes rely on gross-out humor and by the end, it’s kind of hard to care about any of these folks anymore. The animation is great, the voice acting is top-notch, and I will watch it again, but I’m reluctant to recommend it to anyone but a diehard Futurama fans. Here’s hoping the third time’s the charm, and the third installment keeps improving the game.
Previous Comments
The DVD art is gorgeous. The interior art is good, too. It also comes with a couple of art postcards. Very cool. A couple of high points I forgot to mention: Robot Devil shows up! I love him. And Hedonism-Bot makes a return.
The image on the boxset looks like something from an old style comic book or sci-fi magazine. I’m still not done with my season sets yet. I have to agree with you on the whole 22 minute chunk format. Less is more.
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