Mutant Reviewers from Hell do
"The Force is with us, but that is about it."

2007 NR / Animated Scifi Directed by: Dwayne Carey-Hill Starring: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio

Tagline

Just when you thought it was safe to watch something else!

Summary Capsule

Time travel and Futurama… what more of a summary do you need?

Mutant Meter

Movie Store [proceeds go toward monthly MRFH upkeep]

Amazon.com: DVD

Lissa's Rating: Bite my shiny metal [censored]!
Lissa's Review: Once upon a time, there was a show called Futurama. It was funny and quirky and sarcastic, and I loved it very much.

"Like mithril, the finer points of time travel just seem best left uncontemplated."

Then it got cancelled, for no good reason that I could see.

Once upon a time, there was a show called Firefly. It was funny and quirky and sarcastic, and many people loved it very much (I didn't discover it until it was on DVD).

Then it got cancelled, for no good reason that anyone could see.

Once upon a time, there was a show called Arrested Development. It was funny and quirky and sarcastic, and many people loved it very much.

You know, FOX really sucks sometimes. On the other hand, they did air these wonderful shows in the first place, so at least I have a nice stack of DVDs to watch when I want to. But part of my point is, if you feel like I do, you should at least watch the first five minutes of the Futurama movie, because it's really, really funny, even if it is a bit juvenile. (But hey - didn't that sum up the whole show?)

As a whole, I don't hold out much hope or faith for movies made from TV shows. It just normally seems like a dumb idea to me. Of course, there are movies that prove me wrong; certain Trek movies and Serenity come to mind. But TV can actually be a better story-telling method than movies, just because you have so much more time. At least, that tends to be the case for these series that actually build on each episode, which tend to be the ones I like.

However, if you have a show that doesn't really build on each episode and is still a strong series despite that, I kind of feel like the best you can expect from the movie is that it will be a good ninety minute (or two hour) episode of said show. And - good news, everyone! - that's exactly what the Futurama movie is - a good, longer episode of the show. Don't expect more than that, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

As always, the Planet Express crew has a mission that leads them into trouble. This time, they're conned by nude super-scammer aliens into giving up the business and time traveling. Along the way, Leela gets a new guy (sending Fry spiraling into massive depression), Hermes gets his head cut off, and Al Gore helps save the world. The plot is exactly as you'd expect from a Futurama episode, and does leave you wondering a little bit if you're meant to watch this stoned. Most of the major and minor characters are present, but a few are notably missing (like Lrrr, although one site says he was there). And oh yeah - there is singing.

I didn't have high expectations, so I really enjoyed the movie. Like I said, it was a like a good 88-minute episode of the show. The characters were all as I remembered them, but I could have handled a little more Professor and a little less Hermes, because he kind of annoyed me in as high of capacity as he was present in. In fact, the Professor, Amy, and Dr. Zoidberg were all a little more minor than some of their fans might prefer. (Of course, I've never been a huge Dr. Zoidberg fan, so I didn't really mind a little less of him.) The jokes were pretty consistent, and the humor/occasional bittersweet moment was exactly what I liked about the series.

I did think that they handled the time travel aspect well. Normally, I'm not much on time travel in movies, because it makes my head hurt. But like Bill and Ted, the Futurama crew treats time travel as something to be amused by and doesn't try to take it too seriously, unlike sci-fi movies in general. The hows and whys are just glossed over (or, in this case, summed up by the Harlem Globetrotters) and time travel is just fun. And that's exactly how I prefer it. Like mithril, the finer points of time travel just seem best left uncontemplated.

The only thing I'm not sure on is the ending of the Lars/Leela storyline. I can't decide if I thought it was kind of clever and sweet, or if it was really corny. I'll have to watch the movie again and see if I can see any reason I should have even suspected the ending, I don't think there was, but that's not necessarily a total turnoff.

All in all, I enjoyed it very much. I'm glad it didn't go to the theaters first, because I wouldn't have wanted to pay a small fortune to see it, but as a straight-to-DVD movie it was acceptable. Rumor has it the movie (and the other three) will be broken down into episode sized chunks and broadcast, so if you're on a super-tight budget (or really cheap) you can probably see it for "free" sometime soon anyway. ("Free" being an inaccurate descriptor of TV these days, given that most areas require cable to get any reception at all.) And it did seem like there were some cool extras on the DVD itself, which I haven't had a chance to watch yet. But overall, definitely entertaining enough to renew my hatred of FOX.

"We have to recall all copies of the Mutant Reviewers movie. All 11,000,000,000 of them. Right now." "It's the upper right corner of the room! Wooo!" A little something for the ladies, really.

Didja Notice? [some sources: IMDb]

• Bongo dolls
• Mark Hamill as Hanukkah Zombie
• Zylek was apparently present for all of three seconds.
• Kitten ships versus folding chairs. Which did you think would win?
• Al Gore is actually pretty darn funny.
• Hypnotoad!
• Nothing is unsolvable if you're a Globetrotter. (Although I think that equation was pretty solvable anyway, even though I have NO idea what it meant.)
• 2012: 100 dollars for a gallon of gas. I wish I could say I thought that was funny.
• Anchovies and cows might be extinct, but pandas are apparently thriving.
• The different scams and popups?
• John Stewart in the Head Museum (I'd really like to get a better look at who all's there)

Is It Worth Staying Through End Credits?

Hypnotoad says yes. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.

Intermission! [some sources: IMDb]

This is the first of four scheduled movies, each of which will eventually be broken down into smaller chunks and broadcast as episodes.

According to David Cohen: "There are actually dramatic points in the movie -- which hopefully you didn't notice -- where there is peril and we're going to say "To be continued," and then the next episode, we're going to say, "Previously on Futurama," and you're going to see a little catch-up of things you need to know to catch up with it." (I did catch some of them.)

Groovy Quotes

Al Gore: Finally, I get to save the Earth with deadly laser blasts instead of deadly slide shows!

Nibbler: Everyone, out of the universe!

Frye: I want what makes you happy, not what makes me happy.

Zoidberg: I thought you were happy, your tail was wagging!

Nixon: The Force is with us, but that is about it.

If you liked this movie, try these:

• The Futurama Series
• The Simpsons Movie
• Beating FOX with a large stick. Executive powder, anyone?