Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs
Posted on June 25, 2008 @ 10:04 am
Hold on a second…did I just watch a 90-minute cartoon about tentacle rape?
Without treading too far into spoiler territory, that’s the central plot of Futurama’s latest straight-to-DVD feature, The Beast with a Billion Backs. An anomaly opens up in space, allowing a giant tentacle monster from another universe (voiced by David Cross) to get freaky with everyone in our universe.
As you might imagine, the humor is slightly raunchier than the average Futurama outing — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, The Beast with a Billion Backs gets off to a rather slow start, while Bender is stuck in a B-story about a shadowy League of Robots that doesn’t really go anywhere for most of the film. Overall, the movie felt like a slight step down from Bender’s Big Score in terms of quality. Nevertheless, The Beast with a Billion Backs certainly offers its share of laughs. I was particularly delighted to see newly-promoted Rear Brigadier Zapp Brannigan in a supporting role, bravely defending our universe from the encroaching tentacle threat. As for the animation and voice acting, they’re as good as ever .
The DVD release — awesomely packaged with kitschy retro sci-fi art and blurbs inviting the viewer to “See! A monster of questionable morality!” — also includes what’s being billed as Futurama: The Lost Adventure. Basically, the “lost” episode consists of the 3D-animated cutscenes from 2003’s Futurama video game, strung together into a surprisingly cohesive story about an attempt by Mom (evil CEO of Mom’s Friendly Robot Company) to take over the universe. All the familiar voice actors are on board, and it makes for a fun new addition to the Futurama universe –at least for those of us who don’t own an Xbox.
To sum up, I wanted more from The Beast with a Billion Backs, but slightly disappointing Futurama is better than no Futurama at all. I’d certainly recommend the DVD to any Futurama fans out there, but I suspect most either already own it or are in the process of securing a copy.
The verdict: B-
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Geek, Pop Culture |
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I’m iffy about buying anymore of these ever since I found out Season 6 is going to be all four movies split up into four-parters. They pulled that crap on us with the “ever-exclusive” Family Guy movie which aired on TV two months later as three separate episodes.
I’ll still download this, though. And I’m glad to hear they put the video game into a watchable form.
I’m not so bummed out about the eventual rebroadcast of the Futurama movies. I figure I’ll stockpile them now for that dark day when the show eventually drops out of syndication. Of course, by that point, we’ll probably be using neural implant chips to watch movies instead of DVDs…but you get the idea.
Aside from my geeky completist urges, I’m also a big fan of the awesome Futurama DVD commentary tracks. This time around, Billy West debuts a new voice during the commentary: “Paris Hilton Trapped in a Glass Jar.” Comedy gold!