Review: "Futurama - The Beast with a Billion Backs"

The second of the made for DVD/TV Futurama movies hit the air tonight. I’d been waiting for it (not on the edge of my seat, mind you, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it on tonight’s listings), but having seen it now, I figure I could have waited a while longer if they could have spent more time making it better. The biggest problem, without spoiling the movie, was that “The Beast with a Billion Backs” had about 999,999,999 plots too many. It wasn’t a terrible flick, but as Futurama episodes go, this one was pretty middle of the road.

What was good though, without giving too much away, was Bender’s pirate ship. Certainly it was an obvious allusion to the second “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, but given that it was in space there was, I think, certainly a tip of the tricorn cap to Captain Harlock and Queen Emeraldas. And seeing Bender there on deck with his hat and sword, I was suddenly hit by a flashback of Enzo’s buccaneer buddies from the later episodes of “Reboot” years ago.

I don’t think I’d buy “The Beast with a Billion Backs” like I did “Bender’s Big Score”, but if it was on TV again and there wasn’t anything else on, I’d probably watch it. Even though the franchise’s movies are now 1-for-2, I’m still eager to see the newest installment, “Bender’s Game” when it gets released next month. I may have to go out and get myself a copy of Card’s “Ender’s Game” just to see if the Futurama flick bears any further resemblance, aside from the title.