Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder

Futurama really is such a "Meh" show and their attempt at revitalizing it with wall to wall feature movies really did it no favors in my eyes.

In a generic plot featuring all your usual favorites this essentially feature length episode alike the others has it's moments and there are laughs to be had but considerably too few. The plot is instantly forgettable and reminds me again why I never really gave the television show the time of day.

It's not that it's bad, it's just distinctly mediocre. It's like The Simpsons, but without the overwhelming charm and fantastic characters.

If you like Futurama you'll likely enjoy this, otherwise hop skip and jump over it.

The Good:

There are a few laughs to be had

The Bad:

Not as funny as it should be

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Tin foil hats are a growth industry

Kansas is unfamiliar with evolution

You can't sue the military

Feminism angle wasn't satire, it really does seem to have gone that way

Direct-to-DVD movie; Genre: Sci-Fi, Animated Comedy; Content Rating: Unrated (contains adult content & animated violence); Available: DVD and Blu-Ray; Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 – 4);

After 4 hugely rewarding seasons on the Fox Network (not that they knew it) and 3 DVD movies, Matt Groening and David X Cohen's cancelled, cult sci-fi saga "Futurama" comes to a rollicking close with "Into the Wild Green Yonder". The movies were a reward for those who got slapped in the face by Fox's abrupt cancellation and were underwhelmed by the run's finale, "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" in which the show micro-focused its entire story down to a love story between future fish-out-of-water Phillip J. Fry (Billy West) and one-eyed mutant space pilot Leela (Katy Segel). "Yonder" is the epic finale we've been waiting for and I'm thrilled to report it delivers.

As always, "Futurama's" focus is still its unique cast of characters and their conflicting motives, but "Yonder" is a bigger, funnier, more epic ending, worthy of the vast, detailed universe this series created. As a movie, it's the best of the 4 DVDs which says a lot given how highly I still regard "The Beast With A Billion Backs". Where "Beast" was an ambitious and sharp story it still felt disjointed and episodic, where "Yonder" is the first film to feel like a real theatrical release movie from start to finish. It's smoother, with a more complex story, than "The Simpsons Movie".

As with any "Futurama" story, it would be almost criminal to describe the plot: both because it is so delightfully convoluted in its accurate and liberal basis in science fact and sci-fi convention and I do not wish to spoil the numerous wonderful twists and turns herein. However, in the first few minutes events transpire that set our heroes on a collision course toward series end and saving the galaxy: Al Gore-style! Amy Wong's (Lauren Tom) dad is building a new casino on Mars, but his plans to put in a massive mini-golf park threaten the endangered species of the entire galaxy which raises the ire of eco-femenistas (led by radio genius Phil Hendrie in duel role as a female member of the show's Waterfall hippie family and her brother) as well as a secret society Fry gets involved with when an accident leaves him with the ability to read minds. Oh yeah, and Bender has an affair with the Don-Bot's wife.

Almost none of the action in "Yonder" takes place on Earth or at Planet Express. With Leela joining the femenists, Fry in a double-cross to save the universe and Bender dodging the mob and joining up with Zapp Brannigan (again West), the characters spend the movie away from or at odds with each other. Cohen and co-writer Ken Keeler have scripted a clever chess game where each story and each motive weaves together beautifully, all building to a finale that finds that perfect balance between being a thrilling sci-fi adventure and a satisfying character conflict for our 3 unlikely heroes.

"Yonder" is also the funniest movie of the 4 and at times more laugh-out-loud than the series. When Fry (now reading minds) and Bender (with the DonBot's lucky Robot's Foot - his own) go head to head in a high-stakes poker tournament the scene is one of the funniest and most cleverly constructed the show has ever done. "Yonder" has a lot of fun with Bender in this movie. Bender is the kind of anti-hero character that usually has his own story as it is hard to write him into helping the gang save the world in the primary story without cheating his character's nature. "Yonder" finds a perfect place for him. The movie also has a load of fun with the eco-femenists. Few shows make fun of women the way "Futurama" has the balls too with Cohen and Keeler's unique vision of male/female clichés turning "Yonder's" conflicts into a damn-near battle of the sexes. It's refreshing. The movie gets less riotous as the 3rd act comes and the stakes of the story are raised, but that's the case with any action/comedy.

This is a fun one, people. "Into the Wild Green Yonder" fires on all cylinders, deliver the kind of originality and imagination that only "Futurama" can. As funny and poignant as any episode of the series. Both a great movie and a great finale for this much loved series. Don't miss it.

* * * * / 4

Indeed, Not only is it (In my honest opinion) the best of the Futurama movies, but one of the best animated Movies I've seen these past couple of years.

This one truly has everything a die hard Futurama Fan could ever hope for, everything about it is superb, the jokes (especially the really awesome Bender one-liners we all love), the music, the animation, everything. a true Futurama Classic. And unlike previous Futurama Movies, The plot is pretty ludicrous and fresh, and more importantly, solid. and it keeps you watching and anticipating from start to finish.

This movie really sums up the great elements that made Futurama what it is, and it goes to show that Canceling the TV Series was a big mistake.

I agree the 2nd movie was the best of the 4.

I will always love and hold dear Futurama, certain episodes stand out, the romantic sentimental, never to forget Frys dog, or the holophone episode, or the message Fry wrote in space. The comedic lover never to forget Zoidbergs attempt to win a mate, the Whatif machine, or anything Bender has ever done. Oh, and Zap of course, (moreso than Kif).

The episodes that appeal the least to me are the lengthy plot related Nibbler time twisting episodes, and the other overly story arced episodes that introduce new characters too often, which is the category in which I would place these movies.

I have to say that the Wong family has always been consistently boring material for me, and I know, others too.

I guess 90 minutes has that problem, in that there is a necessity to create a drama rather than a subsection of throwaway laughs and The Simpsons movie suffered from a similar fault. I believe it could have been done though. It's fair to say that South Park pulled it off better than most with their Bigger Longer movie.

It's sad to see the gang go. Regardless of speculation, it will be years, if at all, before they re-emerge, and although these 4 episodes were less than perfect, each and every outing was punctuated with many smirk worthy hits, if not laugh out loud moments, and anything that can keep you smiling and wanting more is worth archiving on the good shelf in my opinion, and I will revisit not only classic episodes but these movies again and again over the years ahead.

The idealist in me looks forward to a day that the writers get off the phone and yell, 'we've been unaxed!', cause although movies are eager berries to pick, they often lack the exhilarating hit, the condensed juice of a good 22 minutes of laughter, packaged in the format we have trained our brains to consume so well.

What say Fox, these guys deserve a call for their efforts. Agreed?

First of all, it's much better than the last one (since i hate all the fantasy crap, not to mention it was badly implemented), but it has issues... The problem is there just isn't enough material here for a full movie. There are a few good laughs, but nothing really worthwhile since everything is too spread out. The whole Leela-Fry love is present again and i really think it's overplayed. In every movie there was some emotional undertones concerning Fry and Leela. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but c'mon, make up your minds already, let them be together or not. The problem is that all these movies are light-years behind the episodes. Maybe it was a blessing that they only made 4 seasons, since almost all the episodes are really good. But now the material is getting old, and drawing it out into hour and a half movies doesn't help... The story is so-so and there are too many characters. It almost feels like they tried to fit everyone in, but most times it has no point. Sure its fun to see the Don-Bot or Lurr, but it has no place in the movie's story line. And the whole Men vs Women theme of the whole movie is funny at first but gets old at the end. Don't even understand what the message is...

It's not bad, but nowhere near great. They should stick to 30 min. long episodes. Those where the ones that made futurama popular.