good film but with many flaws

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A number of fans on various websites talking about today's feature were disappointed when comparing it to Bender's Big Score and while I disagree, which will be explained later, I can see why; the premise is unconventional, it does not have an immediate lasting impression and it did lack the laugh-out-loud humour we've come to expect. It was a gargantuan premise dealing with themes that can feel like retreads when looking at Futurama's history. This is Beast with a Billion Backs.Plot: At the end of the last movie, a tear in the universes has been opened and been dubbed an 'anomaly'. The Planet Express crew go to investigate, Kif and Amy get married and Fry begins a relationship with Colleen (Brittany Murphy), who also has 4 other boyfriends. Fry is unhappy with the polyamory so he ventures through the anomaly to discover a colossal, one-eyed multi-tentacle beast named Yivo. The tentacles attack everyone in this universe, with anyone who is attacked by one to utter "Love the tentacle". This worship results in Fry becoming Pope of this new-found religion, discovering the tentacles are its genitals and our universe is hoping to move in with Yivo.The writing staff of Futurama/Simpsons have both liberal and conservative members and this can be a refreshing change with liberal messaging shows like South Park and American Dad! for it presents many ideas, issues and themes from both perspectives and never gives a final stance, but more for the audience to decide. So, the major theme here is love. While others will have a final message, what Beast with a Billion Backs does is not have a preachy message at the end but present various pros & cons on various factors within love. For example, Colleen explains to Fry that no one man can satisfy her for she has too much love to give and needs much love in return; their entire relationship has the positives which is overall satisfaction for her and the understanding of the first 4 boyfriends, but the discomfort Fry ultimately suffers. He does eventually understand her after meeting Yivo. Another example is Bender's actions and speech about the dark-side of love, saying its greedy, selfish and vengeful. It has no finale in its message on how the team views love but simply various examples and ideas on what some of them may think/feel about love. Both liberal and conservative views presented here without besmirching the other.The only theme it failed to explore at all was religion, which could have given way to vast exploration but seeing as it's a sensitive subject that Futurama are not known for tackling or challenging, I think this was wise move. Plus, the vastness of the unanswerable love query was explored brilliantly enough and this could have cluttered the film.In response to it being unconventional premise is something I disagree; they have explored relationships in prior episodes but it was focused mainly, not exclusively, on Fry and Leela, including Bender's Big Score. It's great to see the team bring this onto a bigger scale, venture beyond The Planet Express crew and see it be both comforting and destructive.In response to not having an immediate lasting impression...it is a film that may require multiple viewings to appreciate the phenomenal and creative writing. After the first film, many thought it would remain daft and silly with the emotional serious tones being centred around Fry, but here, they expand it to the whole universe and I personally felt the heartbreak at the end, ending on such a bittersweet note.The humour is lacking, however, with laughs being few and far between; the only moments I remember were from Stephen Hawking and Zapp Brannigan. The jokes were much more visual than prior, which I'm not sure the reason for this creative choice but this isn't entirely foreign to Futurama; it just seemed more focused there than on the dialogue.Beast with a Billion Backs is a fantastic follow-up to the first, linking the two seamlessly and pushing Futurama forward. While the jokes are lacklustre, its concept was bold and it continues taking advantage that in the future, anything can happen.More reviews at anyfilmaday.blogspot.co.uk

I cannot believe how truly awful and "un-Futurama" this movie was. Bender's Big Score, although lacking was still true to its Futurama roots/style and had a lot of funny moments. This one does not. The start is somewhat true to the style of humor the show is famous for, but thats where it all ends. The characters here are largely wasted and story makes absolutely no sense. The plot is simply absent. It seemed that I was watching David Cross's Freak Show rather than Futurama. Bender's storyline, which was the only thing holding interest--is completely wasted. Yivo, which I think is supposed to symbolize the Flying Spaghetti Monster is poorly written and developed. Where the writers could have imparted some great zingers about religion, it was utterly wasted. This one lacks depth, sharpness and wit of its episodic predecessors. True fans of Futurama are going to be sorely disappointed. Don't waste your money, rent it or watch it on Comedy Central (airs in mid-October).

The first movie to come out from the TV show felt a little shaky and unsure of itself. This is much better, it feels stronger and more confident and doesn't suffer from the over heightened expectations of fans like myself that the first film did.The plot is quite sophisticated for a cartoon but not for a Futurama, the characters are back in their tried and tested roles and it is a great way to spend 90 minutes.As I have said before I don't think the cartoon format transfers that well to feature length. There are more laughs than in a normal episode but they are spread further apart making the film feel less funny than it actually is.I am ecstatic that the series of feature lengths are continuing and treasure my copy.

Well, its a good film. It was entertaining, the story was worthy of an 1hr 30mins film. If you don't like futurama or you are not much of a fan, this film isn't for you. If you are a futurama fan you will not be disappointed by this film.All the same old gang are there, getting up to the same old nonsense, but even 1hr into the film I wasn't bored. Usually with films like this one I get bored easily and often think that it is a 'half hour show'. In this instance, though, I have been proved wrong.Although I will not rush out to watch this film again, it was entertaining and funny so its a well deserved 6/10.