Futurama Movies

Benders Big Score (2007)
The first movie to continue the Futurama series was admittedly a bit of a disappointment. It has an interesting story and a lot of Futurama’s famous wit but it tries too hard. The creators must have felt that they needed to show every character since it was the return of the series.
There was potential in this movie and I just cannot help but feel that it was underutilized. If they would have stuck to the brilliant story and stayed away from the unrelated tangents, it would have been a much better movie.
The bottom line is that if you watched and loved the series, you will enjoy the movie but it is not what it could have been. One has to wonder if Futurama stretched itself too far, perhaps it is better as a 30-minute show.

The Beast of a Billion Backs (2008)
The second try at a Futurama movie is far better than the first. They stopped trying to work every character into the story and let the story play out. While the story is as interesting as the first one, it falls way out of the mythology of the Futurama world. It lacked the flow that the series contained.
Yet the movie still has the same biting satire, and it does an excellent job lampooning religion. It is hilarious to see Fry as the tentacle pope. The writing maintains its trademark edge and is very hilarious.
As always, the voice acting in the movie is beyond excellent. David Cross does a great job as Yeva.
We can hope that the Futurama movies continue their upward trend and the next one will be even better.