Futurama: Bender's Big Score

To some, it is known as the bastard step-brother of The Simpsons. To others, it is one of the greatest animated series ever created. Call it what you will, but Futurama gave us 5 seasons and 72 episodes of futuristic hilarity with the rag-tag crew of the Planet Express delivery company.

In 2002, Fox canceled the show, but it soon found its way to Cartoon Network in syndication alongside Family Guy, another fan favorite canceled by Fox. And like Family Guy, Futurama seemed destined for rebirth on Fox. Billy West (the voice of Fry, Zoidberg, and the Professor, among others) even went so far as to announce the greenlighting of 26 new episodes before being firmly corrected by series co-creator David X. Cohen. What emerged instead was the direct-to-DVD feature Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007), followed up by two more features (so far!).

In Big Score, Planet Express is taken over by internet scam artists and Bender is made into their robot slave by the Obey Virus. After Fry is found to be in possession of a secret time-portal summoning computer code, the scammers send Bender back in time to swipe history's loot for them. But when the space-time continuum is threatened by excessive time travel, the scammers try to eliminate Fry and his code. Fry escapes back to the year 2000 and Bender is sent back to dispose of him. What follows is a mad-cap romp (yeah, I just said mad-cap romp, you got a problem with that?) through time and space as only Groening, Cohen, and Futurama can do it.

The beginning of the film is somewhat annoyingly self-referential, as the writers fill in the gap in the storyline after cancelation and lampoon the Fox network's executives for that decision. But things soon fall into line and you feel right back at home in the Futurama universe. The movie, by necessity, is a little lighter on laughs and a little heavier on story than a typical episode, but you'll still find plenty of funny here.

The familiar themes are still here: Bender's still a loveable dirt-bag, Fry's still a bumbling but endearing fool, and the romantic tension between Leela and Fry is still center-stage. All in all, well worth the price of admission, as they say.

The Reverend says: 8/10.