Rate & Review Futurama "The Beast With a Billion Backs" (SPOILERS)

[Ryan]

Well, the inevitable day has arrived. Yes, the new DTV Futurama movie has leaked onto the internet. (a bit quicker than the last one, too!) I'll still buy the DVD, but I was too impatient to wait, and so was many others.

Seeing as how the speculation thread is now filling with reviews, it may be a good idea to create this thread now and leave the goody-two-shoes to their speculating and DVD-waiting.

Here's my two-cents from that thread:

"The story just wasn't as good as the last one, and while it was as epic, it didn't enthrall me just as much. The poorly presented cliffhanger with Kif and Amy is not exactly enough to whet my appetite for the next one. (though the fact that it's Futurama is probably enough already) Yet, of course, it was hysterical. Lots of great gags, montages and most importantly: no bad musical numbers. I'm feeling the same way that I did with the Simpsons Movie: weak storytelling, great humor. Thus, 4/5..."

Your thoughts?...

[StupidHippo]

Copied from the speculation thread:

It was a good film, a lot more dramatic than BBS. Bender still featured quite heavily but I'd say Fry had the main plot this time around. It doesn't seem quite as forced as the last film and the act breaks are less noticeable. There was good characterisation, plot, maybe not as many laugh out loud jokes as before but still I'd say it was funny. BBS has gone down from a 4.5/5 to a 3.5/5 for me after multiple viewings but I'd still say that after the first viewing of 'Beast' I didn't enjoy it quite as much as BBS the first time around - maybe beacuse of all the excitement of the shows return last time around. But to be honest I don't think this rating will slip after a few watches.
4/5

I agree that with the lack of a cliffhanger the wait for Bander's Game will be a lot easier. I also never mentioned that I found the 'I love you meatbags' from Bender a tad cringeworthy and not how they should have ended it.

[Tomacco]

Plenty of great gags spring to mind (bagpipe Kroker exploding, 2-D love tunnel, DeathBall, Stephen Hawking, and basically all of episode 3), but this DVD felt a lot more disjointed than BBS. The whole Colleen story was a bit too sudden and random. Considering these movies allow for a lot more screentime, I woudl have expected Fry and Colleen's relationship to be given more breathing room and development, but it came and went in the first quarter of the movie, leaving episode 2 to just use Fry for a few scenes of remorse. In fact, the first two "episodes" suffered from meandering around too much between Fry/Colleen, Farnsworth/Wernstrom, Bender/Calculon (the whole stalker part of their story felt too rehashed and useless to me), Kif/Amy, and the whole general investigation of the anamoly. The actual creature (voiced brilliantly by Cross) didn't appear at all until episode 3, which I thought was a bit too long considering most everything involving him was funny, fresh and focused.

All in all, a small step down from BBS, but still really good Futurama stuff.

[Jye]

I really liked this one. It's about even with BBS. Good storyline, even though it felt like it jumped around a bit. Lots of good jokes as well. Can't wait until I get to own the DVD. 4/5.

[Beast]

It was good. B+

[Jye]

What the..? Who gave it a 1?

[McClure]

I thought the last 1/4 of the film with Yivo falling in love with the entire universe was pretty weak. Which is a shame because the first 3/4 of the film was pretty funny. I do agree that storywise it was pretty disjointed. I also disliked how they almost immediately cast away the Fry/Leela part of the first movie. The ending could have been better, and I wish it would have had some kind of cliffhanger so that we would have something to look forward to in the next movie.

However, all in all it had some pretty funny moments, some great voice acting and a serviceable story.

I'd give it a 3.5/5. I'd say it was funnier than Bender's Big Score, but BBS had a better plot.

[Mira]

I pretty much agree with the above post 100%.

It was great until the end, which just kind of went off with no real closure. I think a B is a good grade for this.

[Henrik P]

The plot was definitely weaker than Bender's Big Score, but it was a bit funnier in my opinion. I'll have to re-watch it again but I'll give it an A for now.

[Swartzweldian]

Was it funnier than BBS? I thought that one was predictable and lame..and very unfunny. But I know Futurama can be great, so Im tempted to pick this one up. Maybe Ill play it safe and just wait for it to be on cable.

[Adam R]

just finished it... not too sure what to make of it. the plot is kinda all over the place, the opening episode had so many different storylines randomly strung together, but I don't think these things have to be too cohesive as long as they have good stories, more of a sandbox for new futurama ideas, I guess. I liked the general idea of the dating yivo thing though, because I really like that kinda realism in surreal circumstances (reminds me of aqua teen hunger force). there was definitely a few weaker jokes and not many laughs in the final 1/4, but generally it had some good humour in there. also, deathball!

not rating it for now, gonna give it at least another watch first. I'm pretty sure I'd be prone to overrating it anyway since I'm just excited whenever there's anything new from futurama. however, I'm generally positive about it, but I definitely didn't like it as much as the last one.

edit: oh yeah and the ending was kinda underwhelming, I would've liked more of a cliffhanger.

[Postmaster]

Not sure what to make of it, I enjoyed it, but it was too disjointed, too many plots that didn't go anywhere, It did feel more like 4 episodes strung together, yet at the same time, I can't imagine them really standing very well on their own as seperate episodes.
The joke rate was probably about the same as benders big score, but it felt longer, because the story was dragging more, that said I was laughing for about 5 minutes over benders first born son, that was funnier then anything in BBS.

3.5/5

[Mr Johannson]

Well that was... interesting.

the plot is kinda all over the place, the opening episode had so many different storylines randomly strung together,

I agree. There were so many plotlines that some of them started being forgotten about or just quickly moved on (like Bender being Calculons stalker to the League of Robots). And the "going to heaven" thing was kinda weird too, but I don't know why exactly.

And splitting up Kiff and Amy?

I was also expecting some Nibblonian appearances, what with Nibblers reaction at the end of BBS.

But enough complaints. Positive stuff!

I was laughing for about 5 minutes over benders first born son

Absolutely hilarious. By far the best joke in the movie, which is saying something. A lot of great jokes throughout.
I also enjoyed the All My Circuits scene and the POTC parody near the end. The "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" stuff with the tentacles was cool and also sort of creepy.

I agree with the consensus that it was funnier than BBS but had a weaker story.
4/5
Bring on the next one!

[chris]

maybe i was in the wrong mood but did this seem more mean spirited than usual to anyone

[kuumuus]

i'm gonna wait for the dvd.

[Sprocketeer]

For the record, Bender's Big Score was a perfect 5 in my book.

It was obvious this second movie was going to go for a much wackier approach from the get-go. And while I didn't expect it to have the complex storytelling that BBS did with all the bizarre parodoxes, pieces of the story felt a little loose here, mainly the stuff with Fry and Colleen (who I felt was a poor character on the whole). In spite of the blatant disregard for anything that happened between Fry and Leela in BBS, other bits of continuity were firm, as can be expected from this series.

If Bender's Big Score was lacking anything, it was Zapp Brannigan, who only had a brief role in it. This filled those empty shoes. There was certainly more jokes present than in BBS, with most hitting but a few missing. Top gags included Bender's son (possibly the hardest I've laughed in months), Stephen Hawking's laser vision, Zoidberg eating Kif's "bouquet", and a bunch of other gags that don't immediately spring to mind. However, I felt there were slightly too many "gross-out" gags.

I'm going to second the general consensus that the final 15 minutes are so were definitely below the standard of the rest of the movie. They obviously wanted to tie Bender's plot in with the Yivo plot somehow, but I think a different approach may have worked better. I didn't feel the ending was too satisfying, either. Whatever, 15 minutes of "blah" can't kill the previous 70 minutes of enjoyment. Weak 4/5.

And yes, I will buy the DVD.

[Ryan]

In spite of the blatant disregard for anything that happened between Fry and Leela in BBS, other bits of continuity were firm, as can be expected from this series.

Yeah, it's weird. BBS was like a Fry/Leela shipper's wet dream, but this one seemed like it was trying to avoid it. They did, however, waited to address it until the right at the end of the film with Leela basically commenting that he forgot about her the second he met Colleen (presumably quite soon after the ending of BBS), which made it instantly funnier. (especially since you'd think they'd be going for something emotional) So, it's not like it was a total disregard...

[chocolatey socrates]

Okay, this is gonna sound ill informed of me but are they gonna do any TV shit after these movies?

[Ryan]

^Apparently, no...

[RJF]

^Where'd you hear that?I thought it would depend on the sales of the dvds.

[Otis P Jivefunk]

^Apparently, no...

Apparently you know jack shit just like the rest of us so don't pretend otherwise. RJF is right, it depends on DVD sales and seeing as only one is released nobody knows or will know for quite a while...

[Paul]

Why the fuck do you think homer5000 said "apparently"? Go play with your eyeliner.

[Ryan]

Why the fuck do you think homer5000 said "apparently"? Go play with your eyeliner.

Thank you! According to Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, the last one is being written as a finale of sorts. Fox gave them the four DTVs and that's it, and it's been implied that they want to close the series this way...

[Andy]

"It ends on a real sweet note and we'll be content with that if it's the last we ever do."

is this the only quote on this? if so, it sounds like they're content with it being the last piece of futurama content produced, but it doesn't mean it's going to be a hard and fast finale, if they're given an offer to do more.

would be satisfied either way, as long as futurama does get a proper finale.

[Tomacco]

Wow, how do I keep forgetting about Bender's first-born son? That was one of the funniest Futurama gags of all-time!

[Postmaster]

I just know there's going to be a couple of people complaining that that joke was too "mean spirited" though.

[Otis P Jivefunk]

Why the fuck do you think homer5000 said "apparently"? Go play with your eyeliner.

Because he knows jack shit about whether it’ll continue or not just like the rest of us. That’s what I already said. And it’s not my eyeliner…

Thank you! According to Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, the last one is being written as a finale of sorts. Fox gave them the four DTVs and that's it, and it's been implied that they want to close the series this way...

This is all true except it’s not implied that they want to close the series this way. You have merely derived this assumption from the fact the 4th movie will have some sort of closure. They would be happy to close it this way if they can’t continue, but given the choice they would continue and not close the show this way. That choice has yet to be made...

The only reason the 4th movie is being written as a finale is to cover themselves in case they don’t get the green light for any more. Just like with Devils Hands, but look what happened, we got more. I have the feeling this will be slightly less open ended, but certainly not a complete closure. They will carry on given the chance, and that chance is based on the popularity of these movies and that is only a quarter known so far. It’s not enough to make any sort of reliable statements for or against it continuing...

“Apparently, no” is more against the possibility of it continuing than for. Although the “Apparently” part is open, which is where Paul has rammed in to your defence, the “no” part sits the overall comment on a slightly more negative edge. This is where I had the problem because there is no reason to assume such a thing as there is only 1 in 4 movies released so far to base such a comment on. Basically an open comment but leaning slightly more towards the unlikely scenario is a complete nonsense statement to make because it implies one way more than the other. There isn't a reliable amount of evidence to support this yet. So at this point there is absolutely reason to think that, hence my original comment…

[Ryan]

^Sigh, would you stop your temper tantrum if I said, "Apparently, no ACCORDING TO WHAT WE'VE HEARD AT THIS TIME". Keep in mind, Fox is producing, but Comedy Central is airing. There's no fucking way that Fox would produce actual, non-DVD episodes to air on CC (who has the rights), and there's no way CC can afford them. (they could barely afford Drawn Together) So, the possibility of actual, new TV episodes in very unlikely. DVDs are another thing, but according to what we've heard, it seems like it was a one-time deal. These DVDs would have to rake in Family Guy numbers to give it that much of a boost, and unless I'm mistaken, the last one did not...

...but, of course, we know nothing so that means we can't ever speculate on what's been said, correct? ...

[Otis P Jivefunk]

Oh... what you've heard is no more than the rest of us, and Fox could eventually buy the rights back to air brand new episodes if they want to. The first DVD did sell well and the other 3 DVD's sales have yet to come in. A lot of people thought Futurama would never come back in any form at all, but it still happened. The truth is nobody knows what will happen but all those people who thought it would never come back were proved wrong. So I thought people might be more open minded now but I guess not...

Speculate what you want, nothing I've seen from you so for has any more weight than that as it's just mere speculation. I'm just advising that that’s all it is, but apparently I'm throwing a temper tantrum. It's so obvious that you're not, oh dear...

[Ryan]

I'm just advising that that’s all it is, but apparently I'm throwing a temper tantrum. It's so obvious that you're not, oh dear...

Hey, I'm just trying to defend myself. You're the one crying about a two-word comment...